Afghanistan: Funding

Lord Elton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What oversight, influence or control they have of the use made of moneys provided by them to the Government of Afghanistan.

Baroness Amos: Over 50 per cent of UK development assistance has been channelled through the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF), a pooled fund managed by the World Bank. The ARTF has inbuilt safeguards against the risk of corruption: it reimburses money only when there is a paper trail to demonstrate it has been spent in accordance with strict controls. A full-time external oversight agent monitors these claims. We also channel aid through projects to build government capacity, and we apply rigorous compliance checks on how these are managed in line with DfID best practice, applying strict procurement guidelines and undertaking rigorous monitoring.

Afghanistan: Government

Lord Elton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What is their assessment of the proposal by the Government of Afghanistan to set up, or reinstate, a Department for the Promulgation of Virtue and Prohibition of Vice, and of the remit and powers to be vested in such a department.

Lord Triesman: The Afghan Parliament has not yet debated the proposal to establish a Department for the Promulgation of Virtue and Prohibition of Vice nor have terms of reference been agreed.
	We and our international partners are following developments closely and continue to encourage the Afghan Government to observe international human rights obligations.

Afghanistan: Government

Lord Elton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What part, if any, of the cost to the Government of Afghanistan of setting up, or reinstating, and funding a Department for the Promulgation of Virtue and Prohibition of Vice could be met out of funds provided by the Government of the United Kingdom.

Baroness Amos: The Government have proposed that a Department for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice be set up under the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Hajj, which has an operating budget of $6 million this year. However, the proposal has yet to be debated by the Afghan National Assembly, and no terms of reference have been agreed.
	DfID provides around half of its programme (£50 million in 2006-07) in a contribution to the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF). These resources allow the Afghan Government to establish their own priorities for reconstruction activities and build capacity by ensuring that the Government take the lead in implementation. Around 80 per cent of these resources are used for wages and salaries of government officials. In principle the Government could use DfID's resources to fund any expenditure that meets the eligibility criteria of the ARTF. These criteria ensure that all expenditures are contained in the government budget and consistent with Afghan law, do not include military spending, and follow financial management standards set by the World Bank. Aid has proven to be more effective where the Government have control of their own budget and resources, and given Afghanistan's dependence on foreign donors, this can only be done through instruments such as the ARTF.
	However, DfID's overall support to Afghanistan is governed by the 10-year development partnership arrangement signed by Tony Blair and President Karzai in January 2006, which commits Afghanistan to upholding human rights. Were we to believe that the Afghan Government were breaching this agreement through any of their actions, we would raise this politically at the highest level in Afghanistan. We also participate on the monitoring and review board for the Afghanistan Compact, which provides opportunities to address issues such as these.

Afghanistan: Helmand Province

Lord Astor of Hever: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many aircraft are currently deployed in the Helmand province of Afghanistan; what are the aircraft types; and what are the flying hours for each type.

Lord Drayson: I am withholding details of where our aircraft are based and what their flying hours are as this information could severely compromise operational security and put the lives of our personnel at risk. The most appropriate type of aircraft is based at the most appropriate place to support the UK deployment to Helmand.

Afghanistan: Helmand Province

Lord Astor of Hever: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How the overall deficit in helicopter lift in the Helmand province of Afghanistan is calculated; and what is the current overall deficit.

Lord Drayson: The requirements for all military resources in Afghanistan are considered by the Ministry of Defence, either as part of the formal force level review process, or as a result of receiving requests from theatre commanders.
	Where a deficit is foreseen, requests for additional resources are (and have been) staffed from the operational theatre to the Permanent Joint Headquarters and then to the Ministry of Defence. Each of the recent requests from the operational theatre have been endorsed and additional resources have been allocated, as announced by the Secretary of State for Defence on 10 July. Since then, no further requests have been received from Commander UK Task Force for additional helicopters.

Afghanistan: Human Rights

Lord Avebury: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What information they have received from the Women Political Participation Committee of Afghanistan concerning the proposed re-establishment of the vice and virtue department; and whether they will make representations to the Government of Afghanistan concerning the preservation of the right to freedom of religion and belief under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Lord Triesman: The Government have not received any information from the Women Political Participation Committee of Afghanistan about the re-establishment of the Department for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. The Afghan Ministry of Hajj and Religious Affairs' proposal for establishing a Department for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice was considered at Cabinet on 16 July. This has now been referred to Parliament. We, and our international partners, continue to encourage the Afghan Government to observe their international human rights obligations. We will consider making representations once Parliament has deliberated and a decision has been made.

Afghanistan: Poppy Cultivation

Baroness Northover: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What is their assessment of the likely increase or decrease in poppy cultivation across Afghanistan over the next year, broken down for each province.

Lord Triesman: The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) conducts an annual survey into the level of opium poppy cultivation and production in Afghanistan. According to the executive summary of the report, which is now available on the UNODC's website (www.unodc.org), overall cultivation of opium poppy in Afghanistan rose from 104,000 hectares in 2005 to 165,000 hectares in 2006. The report also provides a full breakdown of cultivation by province. This shows that the increase is due to a substantial increase in planting in Helmand and other southern provinces. This is worrying but reflects the very difficult security situation and limited law enforcement capability in the south. Elsewhere in areas where access to governance, security and development has improved, reductions achieved last year have been sustained and in some cases fallen. It is too early to speculate on cultivation levels for 2007. We will know more following the release of UNODC's rapid assessment survey in the spring. The noble Baroness may also wish to refer to separate UK-commissioned research into the drivers behind farmers' planting decisions which I will make available in the Library of the House.

Afghanistan: UK Aid

Baroness Northover: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What is the current United Kingdom aid expenditure in each province of Afghanistan; which aid agencies are being supported; how many international and Afghan aid workers are being supported in Afghanistan; and how these figures compare for each province across the past five years.

Baroness Amos: Since 2001, DfID has spent over £390 million on reconstruction and development in Afghanistan. Afghanistan is DfID's fifth largest programme and we are Afghanistan's second largest bilateral donor, spending over £100 million in 2005-06. This will increase to £115 million by 2008-09.
	DfID's bilateral spend in Afghanistan over the last five financial years (from 1 April to 31 March) is as follows:
	
		
			 2001-02 £50 million 
			 2002-03 £75 million 
			 2003-04 £80 million 
			 2004-05 £80 million 
			 2005-06 £101 million 
		
	
	DfID does not have a detailed breakdown of spending in Afghanistan by province, as we put most of our money through the government budget, for example the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF). In the past, we have focused particular effort in Mazar-e-Sharif, Bamyan, Kandahar, Gardez and Badakshan. Over the next three years we plan to spend up to £20 million each year in Helmand. We do not have information on the number of aid workers (international or Afghan) supported by us.
	The table below illustrates where DfID provided direct financial assistance to provinces. This was largely support to provincial reconstruction teams, but also includes support to three NGOs (Aga Khan Development Network, Afghan Aid and Concern) in Badakshan.
	
		
			 Province 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 
			 National 50 million 75 million
			 Badakshan   0.16 million 0.710 million 1.7 million 
			 Mazar-e-Sharif0.402 million  
			 Gardez   _ 0.126 million  
			 Kandahar0.811 million 0.0068 million 
			 Bamyan0.142 million  
		
	
	DfID is also providing funding of £7.4 million to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) for the development of alternative livelihoods for poppy farmers in Bamiyan, Herat and Balkh provinces.
	DfID has recently approved £30 million over three years to support rural and agriculture development in Helmand province. This will go towards supporting activities under the National Solidarity Programme (NSP), the National Rural Access Programme (NRAP), the Micro-finance Investment Support Facility of Afghanistan (MISFA), quick impact projects in addition to the Water and Sanitation Programme (WATSAN).
	Since 2001, DfID has provided direct financial support to a number of international organisations. Details of the organisations supported are shown below. Of theses organisations, we still currently provide direct financial support to Afghan Aid, Concern, Aga Khan, Womankind, BAGG, and The Asia Foundation.
	International Organisations
	Action Contre La Faim
	Afghan AidAfghan Development Association Aga KhanAgency for Technical Cooperation and DevelopmentAide Medicale International Assisting Marsh Arabs and Refugees BBC World Service Trust BRACBritish Agencies Advisory Group British Red Cross British Refugee Council CAFODCareCentre for Humanitarian Dialogue Christian AidConcernDevelopment initiatives Greenshields Cowie Halo TrustInternational Rescue Committee Islamic ReliefMercy CorpsMerlinOckenden International OxfamPharmaciens Sans Frontieres Refugee Studies Centre Save the Children Fund SolidaritiesTearFundThe Asia Foundation War Child UKWomankind
	In addition, over the past five years DfID has provided direct financial support to a number of national organisations. Details of the organisations supported are shown in the table below. Of these organisations, we still currently provide direct financial support to Southern Rehabilitation and Aid Committee and Helping Afghan Farmers.
	Local Organisations
	Afghan Fertiliser Company
	Afghanistan Independence Human Rights CommissionAfghanistan Information Management Service Afghanistan National Construction Co-ordinationCivil Service Commission Co-operation Centre for AfghanistanHelping Afghan Farmers OrganisationIrtiqa Development and Construction OrganisationLuqman Rehabilitation OrganisationMoqadas Reconstruction Organisation Reconstruction Committee for Development of AfghanistanRoshan Construction CompanySouthern Afghanistan Development AssociationSouthern Rehabilitation and Aid Committee Tribal Liaison Office
	A significant proportion of DfID's programme goes to NGOs indirectly through the Government of Afghanistan, who subcontract implementation of many of their national programmes (to which DfID contributes funding) to national and international NGOs, as well as other implementing partners. Other direct recipients of DfID funding, such as UN agencies, also use NGOs as implementing partners. We do not have a detailed list of these.

Africa: Agricultural Projects

Lord Christopher: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will initiate an objective study of the comparative effectiveness of the various agricultural projects of non-governmental organisations in Africa with a view to encouraging and advising others, including donors.

Baroness Amos: DfID supports many non-governmental organisations working on agricultural issues in Africa. These are usually subject to independent evaluation. Progress reports on much of DfID's support to NGOs are made available on the DfID website (www.dfid.gov.uk). Most non-governmental organisations we support also synthesise their experience and share good practice widely.
	In 2005-06 DfID provided more than £81 million of support through long-term strategic arrangements (Partnership Programme Agreements—PPAs) to 18 international non-governmental organisations. PPAs support a broad range of activities including agriculture. PPAs are reviewed annually and independent evaluations are planned for all of these arrangements.
	DfID also undertook a wide range of studies on agriculture and poverty reduction, including on the role of development assistance, in preparation for the DfID policy paper Growth and poverty reduction: the role of agriculture released in December 2005. Copies of this have been laid in the Library of the House.

Age Discrimination

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What measures have been introduced to inform employers of the provisions to outlaw age discrimination being introduced on 1 October.

Lord Sainsbury of Turville: ACAS good practice guidance for employers and separate DTI guidance on the occupational pensions aspects of the regulations were launched at the joint DTI and DWP Opportunity Age conference in April. Last month, the Government's "Be Ready" campaign entered its second phase, distributing information to 1.4 million employers about the forthcoming legislation, age good practice, and an invitation to order further in-depth material. This and other material can be accessed through the DTI and Age Positive websites, which contain a wealth of other material about the regulations helpful to employers. As a result of the DTI's capacity-building programme, further material will be available over the coming months.

Agriculture: Chemicals

Lord Beaumont of Whitley: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What duties landowners have to inform neighbours as to what chemicals those landowners are spraying on their land.

Lord Rooker: In general, there is no legal requirement for landowners to tell neighbours about most chemical use on land owned by the landowner themselves. There are two notable exceptions:
	when farmers and growers use sulphuric acid as a desiccant; andaerial spraying.
	The landowner must tell their neighbours 24 hours before they begin their treatment with sulphuric acid and they must put up signs and notices about treatment.
	For aerial spraying, the operator must tell people living within 25 metres of the boundary of the land to be treated, and the person in charge of any hospital, school or other institution with boundaries lying within 150 metres of the flight path, 24 hours before the treatment. Again, signs and notices have to be used.
	It is incumbent upon the user to make sure that all chemicals being applied are targeted at the land, crop, structure, material or area being treated.
	The latest code of practice for using plant protection products—a statutory code giving advice and guidance to all professional users—states that it is good practice to advise people who live or work around the area to be treated of the intention to apply chemicals, giving them information about the chemicals being used. It also explains that it is good management to consider extra measures such as leaving an untreated area next to the neighbouring property, putting up signs letting people know the pesticide being used and where they can get further information, and giving out information cards (if available) to those who want them.

Agriculture: Land Ownership

Lord Whitty: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether current records on the ownership of agricultural land in England in terms of accuracy, transparency and comprehensiveness are satisfactory.

Baroness Ashton of Upholland: The main function of HM Land Registry is to maintain and develop a register of title to freehold and leasehold land in England and Wales. The Land Register currently holds 20.5 million registered titles. However, the information held on the register does not reveal the purpose for which the registered land is used—for example, whether the land is used purely for agricultural purposes.
	The accuracy of the information contained in the Land Register is underpinned by a state guarantee and in 2005-06 Land Registry processed 98.8 per cent of all registrations free of error.
	The Land Register has been available for public inspection since December 1990 and official copies of registers, title plans and deeds and most documents referred to on the register can be obtained by post or electronically.
	Currently, 56.7 per cent of the land area of England and Wales is registered. Most urban land is registered but much rural land remains unregistered. Registration is compulsory after certain specific events—for example, sale of land or death of an owner. Land Registry cannot otherwise compel registration but does have a strategy of working towards a comprehensive land register by persuading landowners of the benefits of voluntarily registering their holdings. During 2006-07, Land Registry aims to register a further 700,000 hectares of land through voluntary registration.

Armed Forces: Harmony Guidelines

Lord Astor of Hever: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What steps they are taking in the short and long term to address breaches of harmony guidelines through the roulement of United Kingdom military forces in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan and in Iraq.

Lord Drayson: We recognise that, given the increase in the scale of our contribution to Afghanistan in 2006 and our ongoing commitment in Iraq, harmony levels will remain under pressure, at both unit and individual levels. We have put in place a range of short and long-term measures to ameliorate this situation. In the short term this includes: training and recruitment initiatives; financial retention and re-engagement incentives; flexibility in the rank employed in some posts; the mobilisation of Reservists; some contractorisation (where appropriate); and regular reviews of force levels required for each operation.
	Over the longer term, the restructuring of the Armed Forces currently under way, particularly in the Army, will help us to achieve an improvement in average tour intervals. Further improvements may come from eventual reductions in UK force levels in a range of theatres, and from appropriate contributions from our allies, which we continue to encourage.

Armed Forces: Helicopter Pilots

Lord Garden: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many medium support helicopter pilots became unavailable for operational duties in 2005-06 through retirement, promotion, medical unfitness or other reasons; and how many new operational medium support helicopter pilots were trained in the same period.

Lord Drayson: The number of medium support helicopter pilots unavailable for operational duties in 2005-06 as a result of retirement, promotion, medical unfitness or other reasons is shown in the table below:
	
		
			 Classification Retirement Promotion Medical Unfitness1 Other Reasons 
			 RAF 12 4 1 1 
			 RN 7 0 1 0 
			 Total 19. 4 2 1 
		
	
	41 RAF and 16 RN new operational medium support helicopter pilots were trained in the same period.
	1 This does not include pilots who were medically downgraded as unfit to fly for only part of a period in question.

Armed Forces: Pay Review Body

Lord Craig of Radley: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What are the reasons for delay in announcing their decision about the recommendations of the Armed Forces Pay Review Body's 2006 supplementary report on the pay of service dental and medical officers.

Lord Drayson: Given the significant recruitment and retention difficulties experienced by service medical and dental officers, the Government wanted to carefully consider the Armed Forces Pay Review Body report in order to ensure that it delivered an appropriate package that recognises the vital contribution made by these officers.
	I refer the noble and gallant Lord to the Written Ministerial Statement that we made on Monday 24 July 2006 (Official Report, col. WS 131) on Armed Forces medical and dental officers pay.

Armed Forces: Sentinel Aircraft

Lord Astor of Hever: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	When the two remaining Sentinel aircraft from Raytheon will be delivered.

Lord Drayson: The programmed agreed with Raytheon Systems Ltd will deliver three Sentinel aircraft to the RAF Waddington before the end of this financial year (31 March 2007), with the other two following later in 2007.

Armed Forces: Sentinel Aircraft

Lord Astor of Hever: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they still intend to deploy three Sentinel aircraft to the Middle East by November.

Lord Drayson: No, there has never been a plan to deploy Sentinel aircraft to the Middle East by November 2006.

Army: Recruitment

Lord Garden: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What proportion of army recruits for the past 12 months were non-British citizens.

Lord Drayson: The latest figures available are from 1 July 2005 to 30 June 2006. The proportion of those personnel who have entered the untrained strength of the regular Army during that period and who have a non-British nationality are as follows:
	
		
			  Proportion of Non UK Personnel 
			 Officers 2.6% 
			 Soldiers 5.4% 
			 Total 5.3% 
		
	
	1. The figure are for regular Army only and therefore exclude Gurkhas, Home Service battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment, full-time Reserve service, mobilised Reserves, Territorial Army and all other Reserves.
	2. Figures are based on untrained intake into the regular Army and for soldiers include inflows from illegal absence.
	3. The nationality given above is that recorded on inflow to the untrained strength and not necessarily the same as the nationality at birth.
	4. Includes inflows only from those with a nationality OTHER than UK. It therefore includes those with a nationality of Eire, UK dependency, Commonwealth (excluding UK) and other countries.

Asylum Seekers: Voluntary and Compulsory Returns

Lord Hylton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many unsuccessful asylum applicants left the United Kingdom (a) voluntarily, and (b) under compulsion in each year from 2002 to 2005.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The accompanying table shows the number of asylum applicants who were removed from the UK in each year from 2002 to 2005, broken down by type of removal. It is not possible to say at what stage in the asylum process people are, at the time of their removal. Published statistics on immigration and asylum issues are available onthe Home Office's research development andstatistics website at: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.
	Principal asylum applicants removed from the United Kingdom, from 2002 to 2005(1)
	
		
			 Year 2002 2003 2004 2005(2)(P) 
			 Total principal asylum applicants(3) 10,740 13,005 12,585 13,670 
			 of whom: 
			 left under assisted voluntary return programmes(4) 895 1,755 2,300 2,905 
			 were enforced removals(5)(6) 9,845 11,250 10,285 10,760 
		
	
	(1) Figures rounded to the nearest five, and may not sum due to rounding.
	(2) Removals in 2005 include those who it is established have left the UK without informing the immigration authorities.
	(3) Persons who had sought asylum at some stage, excluding dependants.
	(4) Persons leaving under assisted voluntary return programmes run by the International Organisation for Migration. May include some on-entry cases and some cases where enforcement action has been initiated.
	(5) Includes persons departing "voluntarily" after enforcement action had been initiated against them.
	(6) Excludes assisted voluntary returns.
	(P) Provisional figures.

Audit Commission

Lord Ramsbotham: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What is the annual cost of publications published by the Audit Commission.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: As this is an operational matter, officials from the Department for Communities and Local Government have asked the Audit Commission to reply direct to the noble Lord.
	The Chief Executive subsequently replied to him on 12 September and a copy of his letter has been placed in the Library of the House.
	Letter from the chief executive of the Audit Commission, Steve Bundred, dated 12 September 2006.
	Your question about the annual cost of Audit Commission publications has been passed to me for reply.
	In the last year, from 1 August 2005 to 31 July 2006, the Audit Commission has sent a total of 32 national reports and technical documents to its stakeholders. The production and distribution costs amounted to £306,185, not inclusive of VAT. This figure includes the cost to the commission of reports that were published jointly with other regulators.
	Please do not hesitate to contact me if you need any further information. I am copying this to Baroness Andrews, and a copy will also be placed in the House of Lords Library.

Avian Flu

Baroness Byford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What was the total cost of the avian influenza outbreak in Norfolk; and how much of this was attributed to (a) clearing, and (b) cleaning.

Lord Rooker: The total cost of tackling the avian influenza outbreak in Norfolk was £1,181,458. This figure is subject to amendment as more data become available. £36,028 of the total cost is attributed to clearing (including incineration, rendering, transport of carcasses, landfill and destruction of clinical waste). £9,794 of the total cost is attributed to cleaning (including primary cleaning and disinfection).

Avian Flu

Baroness Byford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will permit precautionary vaccination of rare breeds of poultry against avian influenza, in order to maintain the gene pool.

Lord Rooker: Although current avian influenza vaccines are able to reduce mortality, it is possible that some vaccinated birds would still be capable of becoming infected and transmitting avian influenza without displaying symptoms of the disease. This could increase the time taken to detect and eradicate the virus.
	For this reason, the Chief Veterinary Officer's advice remains that we should not vaccinate poultry in advance of an avian influenza outbreak or as an immediate disease control response. High standards of biosecurity, separation of poultry from wild birds and careful surveillance for signs of disease are the most effective means of protection. However, we continue to keep our policy under close review in the light of scientific developments.
	In view of current uncertainties in the nature and spread of the virus, we are securing access to a supply of 10 million doses of vaccine and we are developing a vaccination delivery plan with stakeholders as part of our contingency planning.

Aviation: Contaminated Air

Lord Tyler: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they are aware of any payments made by British Aerospace Regional Aircraft Limited to Ansett Transport Industries Operations Limited and East West Airline Operations Limited, under an agreement dated 3 September 1993, in connection with design flaws in the BAe 146 aircraft allowing contamination of cabin air by oil and other fumes; and, in light of that agreement, what steps they took at that time to ensure that regulations pertaining to cabin air quality were enforced.

Lord Davies of Oldham: In the time available neither the Department for Transport nor the CAA has traced any knowledge of any agreements between British Aerospace Regional Aircraft Limited and Ansett Transport Industries Operations Limited and East West Airline Operations Limited or payments made to those airlines in connection with alleged design flaws leading to contamination of cabin air. The CAA has found a record of icing problems with a BAe 146 operated by Ansett. Altitude restrictions were imposed by the CAA and the FAA following an incident involving Ansett in 1992.
	The department would not expect to have known about a commercial agreement between a UK aerospace manufacturer and its customers. But if the noble Lord has access to a document which seems relevant to government policy, we invite him to send us a copy to consider.
	As the two airlines were Australian, we have contacted the Civil Aviation Safety Authority in Australia. It is not aware of any agreements or payments but says that Ansett (of which East West was a subsidiary)—now in liquidation—may have obtained a contribution for costs it incurred in investigating cabin air quality and in taking corrective action by modifying all its aircraft to incorporate improved air-flow arrangements.

Aviation: Pilots' Licences

Lord Tebbit: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they intend to amend the Air Navigation Order 2005 (S.I. 2005/1970) to extend the medical validity periods in respect of airline transport pilots' licences.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The validity periods of medical certificates issued to holders of air transport pilots' licences are established in the European Joint Aviation Requirements—Flight Crew Licensing. An amendment to these requirements is currently under consideration. If adopted this would increase the period of validity of medical certificates issued to air transport pilots' licence holders aged between 40 and 60 years who fly multi-pilot aircraft. The UK supports the proposal. Such changes can be implemented without amending the Air Navigation Order.

Aviation: Pilots' Licences

Lord Tebbit: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What is their response towards proposals within the International Civil Aviation Organisation to raise the age limit for the licensing of airline transport pilots to 65 years; and whether any such decision would become mandatory in French airspace.

Baroness Amos: The UK welcomes the International Civil Aviation Organisation's decision in March 2006 to amend the personnel licensing standards contained in Annex 1 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation (the Chicago convention) by raising the maximum age limit to 65 for commercial pilots. The increased age limit is applicable only in multi-pilot operations where the other pilot is under 60 years of age and will come into effect on 23 November 2006.
	As a contracting state to the Chicago convention, France is obliged to recognise flight crew licences issued by another contracting state provided that the licence meets or exceeds the personnel licensing standards in Annex 1.

Beer Duty

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many micro-breweries have started up since the introduction of graduated beer duty.

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What has been the effect on revenues of the introduction of graduated beer duty.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: Small breweries relief was introduced in 2002 to help small breweries to compete with larger breweries in order to maintain diversity in the beer industry and to boost local economies. HMRC latest estimates suggest that the cost of this relief was around £20 million in 2005-06. The Society of Independent Brewers estimates that around 130 new small breweries have been established since its introduction.

Belfast Agreement

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What assessment they have made of the extent to which the Government of the Republic of Ireland are implementing the section of the Belfast Agreement of 1998 concerning equality and human rights.

Lord Rooker: The British and Irish Governments published a paper on 14 July 2001 entitled Achievements in Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. This paper includes details of the steps taken by the Irish Government in accordance with the "Rights, Safeguards and Equality of Opportunity" section of the agreement.
	The document is available on the Northern Ireland Office website.

Benefits: Uprating

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many people benefit from the provision in Regulation 4 of the Social Security Benefit Uprating Regulations 2006 (S.I. 2006/712) who would not have benefited from the similar provision in Regulation 8 of the Social Security Benefit Uprating Order 2006 (S.I. 2006/645).

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The requested information is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

British Citizenship

Lord Avebury: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether an application for British nationality may be made only on the prescribed application form; and, if not, what are the minimum requirements to constitute a valid application for British nationality.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: Forms for applying for British nationality are not prescribed in law. We may treat as a valid application any request for British nationality which contains at least the basic information necessary to enable the Home Secretary either to naturalise or to register the applicant or to tell whether the applicant may already be a British national. In practical terms, this means we should treat as an application any form or request sent to us which, together with accompanying documents, appears to contain the applicant's full name, address, date and place of birth (unless on inquiry this cannot be supplied), and a declaration stating that the contents are true. Using application forms has the benefit of ensuring that current guidance is available to applicants through the accompanying guides, and that the applicant has supplied relevant information and made correct declarations.

CAFCASS

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What the percentage increase has been in the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service budget for the current financial year.

Lord Adonis: In 2005-06 and 2006-07, CAFCASS received baseline funding of £100.79 million. In 2006-07, CAFCASS was also given additional one-off funding of £4.69 million to implement its change programme.

Cancer: Cervical

Earl Howe: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What assessment they are undertaking of the availability of vaccines against the causes of cervical cancer; which body is conducting such work; and to what timeframe.

Lord Warner: We are aware of the two vaccines in development by GlaxoSmithKline and Merck Sharp & Dhome.
	The Department of Health has worked closely with the Health Protection Agency, the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, NHS Cancer Screening Programmes and prominent researchers in the field to inform a potential strategy for the NHS when the vaccines become available.
	The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has now set up a sub-group to consider human papilloma virus vaccination. The sub-group met firstly on 23 May 2006, and manufacturers were invited to submit material for the group to consider. The sub-group will next meet on 22 September, prior to preparing a report to go to the main JCVI meeting in October.

Child Support Agency

Lord Steinberg: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What will be the total write-off cost of disbanding the Child Support Agency.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The Department for Work and Pensions is currently developing plans for introducing a new system of child support. As part of this, we are considering the most cost effective way of moving to a new organisation.

Children: European Convention Optional Protocol

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	When they will ratify the optional protocol to the Convention on Rights of the Child.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The United Kingdom ratified the optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict (CRC-OP-AC) on 24 June 2003.The United Kingdom signed the optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (CRC-OP-SC) on 7 September 2000. The Government are committed to ratifying it at the earliest opportunity. The Home Office is undertaking a review to determine the extent to which the United Kingdom complies with the articles set out in the optional protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. The Government want to ensure that there are no gaps in the measures which exist to protect children in the way the protocol intended. Once the Government are confident that the United Kingdom is fully compliant, the optional protocol will be ratified.

China: Cultural Connections

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they funded the reception to launch "China UK connections through culture"; who compiled the invitation list; on what basis; and whether they will place the list of those invited and those who attended in the Library of the House.

Lord Triesman: Connections through Culture is a new UK-China cultural initiative, co-funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the British Council and the Scottish Executive. It aims to enhance cultural co-operation between the UK and China with a view to improving overall relations, through a series of networking events and exchanges of personnel attached to cultural institutions. The departments involved in the initiative drew up the guest list for the launch event on 20 July from their existing contacts, to include those with an interest in culture and China. A list of invitees and attendees will be placed for reference in the Library of the House, and I will arrange for officials to send a copy of this list to the noble Lord.

China: Human Rights

Lord Alton of Liverpool: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What representations they have made to the Government of China about reports by Human Rights Watch of physical abuse, harassment and interference with due legal process in the case of Chen Guangcheng.

Lord Triesman: The Government included Chen Guangcheng on the individual case list handed to the Chinese authorities at the last round of the UK-China human rights dialogue on 3 July 2006. The case was also raised at the EU-China human rights dialogue in May 2006. The Government will continue to make representations on this case and on our other human rights concerns.

Civil Law

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the reply by the Baroness Scotland of Asthal on 3 July (HL Deb, col. 10), what is the justification for splitting responsibility for English civil and criminal law between the Home Office and the Department for Constitutional Affairs.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The responsibility of the Home Office for the criminal law reflects its responsibility for public protection, security, and law and order. The responsibility of the Department for Constitutional Affairs for civil law reflects its responsibility for effective dispute resolution for the public. Through the National Criminal Justice Board, Ministers from all three criminal justice departments work closely together to set the strategy for the criminal justice system and to monitor its delivery.

Civil Service: Graduate Recruitment

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many graduates are expected to be recruited by (a) the Foreign and Commonwealth Office; (b) H M Treasury; and (c) the Home Office in (i) the current financial year, and (ii) the financial year 2007—08.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: There is no central record of the total number of graduates recruited by government departments.
	The Fast Stream is the only service-wide graduate recruitment programme, and recruitment into it is managed by the Cabinet Office on behalf of the whole Civil Service. Departments are free to recruit graduates independently of the Fast Stream, either into graduate development schemes of their own or into mainstream posts.
	Our records show that in the current financial year the Foreign and Commonwealth Office recruited 26 Diplomatic Service Fast Streamers.
	Our records show that, in the current financial year, HM Treasury has taken 12 Fast Streamers, and the Home Office has taken 26.

Civil Service: Northern Ireland

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Rooker on 12 July (WA 121), which Northern Ireland Civil Service departments planned staff reductions in 2005-06; in each case, how many reductions were planned; and, of the 1,198 staff reductions that year, how many were casual staff; and how many new casual staff started work in the same year.

Lord Rooker: The planned reductions in 2005-06 relate to funded posts under the Fit for Purpose reform programme rather than actual staff (i.e. headcount) reductions. Headcount numbers will vary up and down as staff leave or when vacancies are filled, but the number of funded posts in the Fit for Purpose programme is reducing to meet targets. The planned reductions in funded posts for each of the 11 Northern Ireland departments and their agencies in 2005-06, as profiled by departments in April 2005, were as follows:
	
		
			 Department 2005-06 Planned Reductions in Funded Posts 
			 Department of Agriculture and Rural Development 153 
			 Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure 9 
			 Department of Education 28.5 
			 Department for Employment and Learning 20 
			 Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment 15 
			 Department of Finance and Personnel 61 
			 Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety 29 
			 Department of the Environment 0 
			 Department for Regional Development 174 
			 Department for Social Development 267 
			 Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister 7 
			 Total 763.5 
		
	
	Of the 1,198 funded posts suppressed, only one was filled by a casual member of staff. The number of new casual staff who began work in 2005-06 in the 11 Northern Ireland departments and their agencies was 753. The use of casuals to meet a temporary business need does not impact on the achieved reductions in funded posts.

Civil Service: Northern Ireland

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Rooker on 12 July (WA 121), what form the vacancy control of the Northern Ireland Civil Service currently takes; and how it tallies with both continuing recruitment and promotion and the intention to avoid redundancies when the public administration review changes occur in 2007-09.

Lord Rooker: Decisions on whether to fill vacancies in the 11 Northern Ireland departments and their agencies are taken by departments in line with business need and the requirement to deliver agreed workforce reductions and in the light of the review of public administration. To ensure a corporate approach, the Department of Finance and Personnel must approve all promotion and recruitment actions.
	The scope for vacancies to be filled by the redeployment of existing staff is initially considered by departments before recruitment or internal promotion. Information on current and potential staff surpluses and vacancies that departments envisage may be difficult to clear is shared between departments on a monthly basis.

Civil Unrest: Northern Ireland

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What proposals they have to give additional support to victims of civil unrest in Northern Ireland.

Lord Rooker: Funding for victims' and survivors' groups and individual victims and survivors comes from a wide variety of sources. As part of her remit, Mrs Bertha McDougall, the Interim Commissioner for Victims and Survivors, is carrying out a review of how well current funding arrangements are addressing need.
	In an initial report on her findings, published in June this year, the Interim Commissioner noted that, since 1998, government had provided £36.4 million in funding to victims and survivors and European funding had provided a further £7.6 million, 25 per cent or £1.9 million of which was also from government. The Interim Commissioner's final report is due around the end of this year, and her findings and recommendations will help in our consideration of any new funding arrangements that may emerge as part of the next phase of victims and survivors policy.

Commission for Social Care Inspection

Lord Rea: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What was the cost of the Commission for Social Care Inspection in 2005—06; and what is its budgeted cost for the current financial year; and
	How many staff were employed by the Commission for Social Care Inspection in 2005—06; how many staff are currently in post; and how many of these are paid more than £35,000 per annum including national insurance and pension contributions; and
	How many posts were saved in local government as a result of the new arrangements which gave the Commission for Social Care Inspection responsibility for care home inspection; and
	Whether any independent evaluation has been commissioned to assess whether care standards have improved since the introduction of the Commission for Social Care Inspection; and, if so, whether any preliminary results are available.

Lord Warner: We understand from the chair of the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) that the revenue expenditure of the CSCI in 2005-06, excluding depreciation, was £141.153 million and the capital expenditure £7.1 million.
	The budgeted revenue expenditure for the current financial year 2006-07, excluding depreciation, is £142.146 million. The capital expenditure is budgeted at £19.978 million; £12 million to fund CSCI's information and communication technology strategy, which will help CSCI to deliver its modernisation programme to reduce its long-term costs and £8 million to reduce CSCI's office portfolio.
	There was an average number of 2,479 staff employed by CSCI in 2005-06. CSCI estimates that in the financial year 2006-07 there will be 1,600 staff who will each cost it in excess of £35,000 to employ, including national insurance and pension contributions and any pay awards up until 31 March 2007.
	The number of staff transferred into CSCI in April 2004 was 2,763. CSCI was created through the Health and Social Care Act 2003, bringing together the work of the Social Service Inspectorate (SSI), the National Care Standards Commission (NCSC) and the joint review function of the Social Services Inspectorate and the Audit Commission. The establishment of CSCI created savings of £10 million compared to the cost of its predecessors. The numbers of staff transferring from each organisation are shown in the table.
	
		
			 Audit Commission 11 
			 SSI 209 
			 NCSC 2,543 
			 Total 2,763 
		
	
	CSCI inspects care services at statutory intervals, to assess their quality against national minimum standards. As CSCI reported in The State of Social Care in England 2004-05, the data suggest that the quality of these services has been improving, both in terms of average performance and in the number of services meeting almost all of the national minimum standards. The pattern of improvement has continued in 2005-06. Details will be set out in CSCI's next State of Social Care report, due to be published later in the year.
	CSCI has not commissioned an independent evaluation to assess whether care standards have improved since its introduction in April 2004.

Commission for Social Care Inspection

Lord Rea: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What proportion of the Commission for Social Care Inspection costs were charged back to care providers in 2005—06; what is the budgeted proportion that will be charged back in 2006—07 and 2007—08; and what provision they have made for helping care providers to find the funds to meet these costs.

Lord Warner: The Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) is funded by a combination of Government funding via grant-in-aid and regulatory fees from providers at levels set by Government. Fees for CSCI's work are set in March of each year, following a process of consultation.
	CSCI is the independent inspectorate for all social care services in England. It is accountable to the Secretary of State for Health and is also required by law to report to Parliament annually. It registers, inspects and regulates social care providers in the private, local authority and voluntary sectors, all of which are required to pay fees for the services it provides. The fees reflect the work involved in registering and inspecting care establishments and contribute to providing for a safe and realistic level of inspection activity.
	It is the Government's policy to move to a position where the recurrent costs of providing regulation are fully recovered from service providers. The annual fee increases are part of this process. The Government believe it is right in principle for commissioners of services, providers and service users to meet the cost of regulation, because all benefit from regulation and the assurance that the regulatory system provides about the quality of services and the protection of vulnerable people. Providers of care can, of course, take CSCI's fees into account when negotiating with those who commission its services.
	The information requested on the proportions of CSCI's income which were charged back to care providers is shown in the table. For 2006-07, fees cover about 50 per cent of the overall cost of CSCI's regulatory activity, which represents about 80 per cent of its work.
	
		
			 Year Grant-in-aid from thedepartment to CSCI CSCI income from fees 
			 2005-06 £82,864,000 £56,755,000 
			 2006-07 £77,164,000 £65,000,0001 
		
	
	Note:
	1 Estimated figure
	Information on CSCI's fees for 2007-08 is not available, as the consultation process is yet to be conducted.

Common Agricultural Policy: Single Farm Payment

Baroness Byford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Rooker on 6 June (WA 178), what is the current position on single farm payments.

Lord Rooker: As at 27 September 2006, 112,914 claimants had received a total of £1.497 billion in full or partial payments under the 2005 single payment scheme. Of the estimated 3,560 claimants who have yet to receive a payment, approximately 99 claimants have a claim value of more than €1,000 or £682. Work continues to complete processing of the remaining claims as soon as possible.
	A statement on the likely payment timetable for the 2006 scheme will be made shortly.

Community Sentences

Lord Hanningfield: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What was the cost of the contract between the Home Office and Red Consultancy in regard to the marketing and re-branding of community sentences; when the contract started and ended; whether any analysis was subsequently undertaken as to the overall effectiveness of the exercise; and, if so, whether they will place in the Library of the House any such written appraisal.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The Red Consultancy was appointed through a competitive tender handled by the Central Office of Information (COI) through its purchasing framework agreements. There is, therefore, a contract between the Red Consultancy and the COI acting on behalf of the Home Office. The contract was awarded for the financial year 2004-05. It is reviewed each year and was renewed in 2005-06 and for 2006-07. The Red Consultancy received £225,000 for the first year of the campaign, including all fees and expenses for a number of projects. In the second year of the campaign, it received £265,000. This financial year, activity is planned up to the value of £275,000.
	For those three years, Red Consultancy's task has been to increase understanding of community sentences as an effective form of punishment. The work also aims to engage communities and encourage them to nominate what sort of work offenders should do. So far, the campaign is reaching on average around 30 million people each year. At the end of each financial year, a full evaluation of activity is undertaken by the Home Office's Communication Directorate, as is the practice for all central marketing campaigns. Marketing evaluations are shared with senior officials andMinisters, but there is no legislative requirement to publish these or to place them in the House.

Constitution

Lord Patten: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the publication Inside Britain: A Guide to the UK Constitution, produced by the Department for Constitutional Affairs, was subject to independent academic peer review.

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: Inside Britain: A Guide to the UK Constitution was produced by the Citizenship Foundation, an independent charity which aims to empower individuals to engage in the wider community through education about the law, democracy and society. The guide was funded by the DCA and is aimed at engaging young people by showing that constitutional issues are relevant to them. It does not attempt to be an academic textbook about the constitution. The book was developed after trials that included focus groups of students in schools, an advisory group that included constitutional experts, and a discussion forum with constitutional lawyers.

Consultants: Executive Coaching

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Which government Ministers and permanent secretaries have received executive coaching or other consultancy on a one-to-one basis from ER Consultants or Praesta at taxpayers' expense over the past year.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: The information requested is not held centrally. This is a matter for individual departments.

Consultants: Northern Ireland

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the Northern Ireland Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure has employed consultants since 1 January; if so, for what purpose; and at what cost.

Lord Rooker: The following information relates to consultancy expenditure incurred by the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure since 1 January, 2006:
	
		
			 Expenditure Subject of Consultancy 
			 £280.00 Executive Team Meeting 
			 £407.68 Child Protection Workshop 
			 £15,760.50 Electronic Document Records Management 
			 £2,608.00 Project Advisor for Capital Projects 
			 £350.00 Editorial Services on Architecture Policy 
			 £3,968.00 Strategy for Sport 
			 £2,750.00 Strategy for Sport 
			 £5,737.26 Strategy for Sport 
			 £14,395.23 Eel Research Project 
			 £5,545.15 Article 4 and 10, tendering and site visit checks for EU angling and water recreation development programmes 
			 £7,875.00 Exercise to identify DCAL IWIF land and property assets and to scope the work and costs involved in proving legal title 
			 £29,600.00 Research on the social and economic impact of recreation fisheries, angling and NI angling resources 
			 £1,000.00 Otter and whopper swan survey at Tiraroe, Derrylin 
			 £2,000.00 Green Book economic appraisal on South Lough Neagh Regeneration Association 
			 £850.00 Flora and Fauna survey on Upper Lough Macnean 
			 £4,858.50 Report on Fisheries Conservancy Board financial projections to March 2007 
			 £260.00 Boat Inspection (Ardmore boat yard) 
			 £1,000.00 Irish Language Act NI and the European Charter for regional or minority languages 
			 £5,178.42 Business Continuity Plan 
			 £29,107.31 Internal Audit 
			 £1,041.35 Risk Management review 
			 £2,065.00 Review of Statement of Internal Control 
			 £10,268.65 Internal Audit 
			 £1,180.00 Internal Audit 
			 £6,805.65 Internal Audit Services 
			 £9,500.00 Accountancy Services 
			 £75.00 Public Survey Quality Group Survey 
			 £9,020.00 PRONI new accommodation project business case 
			 £7,368.75 Facilitation of Strategic Planning Exercise 
			 £1,475.00 Internal Audit Fees for - key performance validation 
			 £5,600.00 Annual Accounts preparation 05-06 
			 £1,410.00 Charter Mark Assessment Fees

Consultants: Review of Ministers' Private Offices

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Which department commissioned Praesta to review the effectiveness and cost of Ministers and their private offices, as described on the Praesta—Leaders in Executive Coaching website; what was the cost of the review; whether a report covering the political implications of a change in the number of Ministers in the team represents an appropriate use of public money; and whether they will place a copy of the report in the Library of the House.

Lord Triesman: In July 2004, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office asked the Change Partnership, which was then part of Whitbread Mann, to review the working of our ministerial offices and their staffing. Since then, most of those who worked for the Change Partnership have moved to Praesta Partners.
	On the other points raised, I refer the noble Lord to the Answer given in another place by my right honourable friend the then Foreign Secretary (Mr Jack Straw) on 7 March (Official Report, House of Commons, 7/3/06; cols. 1344-45W).

Controlled Drugs

Lord Colwyn: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether, following the guidance on safety management of controlled drugs issued in June, they will clarify the procedures for the prescription of drugs by private medical and dental practitioners to (a) specific patients, and (b) practice store areas for use when appropriate.

Lord Warner: FP10PCD prescription forms are for use by all prescribers (including medical and dental practitioners) issuing private prescriptions to patients for Schedule 2 and 3 controlled drugs, where these drugs are to be dispensed by a community pharmacist. This has been a statutory requirement since 7 July 2006. Detailed guidance is available on the Department of Health website at www.dh.gov.uk/controlleddrugs
	Procedures for ordering and using controlled drugs from stores or stock remain unchanged. They are governed by the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001 and subsequent amendments. The department and the Home Office have consulted on the principle of introducing a standard form (for use in the public and private sectors) for any requisition for controlled drugs for stores or stock. Development work on this initiative is under way.

Cost of Living

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What is the estimated increase in the cost of living over the past one, three and five years for United Kingdom households with incomes in the lowest quintile.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from the Director of Macroeconomics and Labour Market, Colin Mowl, dated 14 September 2006.
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question (HL7275) asking what is the estimated increase in the cost of living over the past one, three and five years for United Kingdom households with incomes in the lowest quintile. I am replying in her absence.
	Information in the form requested is not readily available. Calculation of weights for households with incomes in the lowest quintile for the retail prices index (RPI) would require special calculations using data from the Office for National Statistics' expenditure and food survey, from which the RPI weights are derived. Specifically, the process would involve returning to each year's survey at the household level and removing all observations from respondents above the lowest quintile. The remaining responses would then need to be aggregated to national levels before embarking on the detailed process of producing RPI expenditure weights. The removal of such a large amount of the responses means that it is likely that a number of years would need to be averaged to provide an acceptable sample size. Special calculations would also be required to derive the weights for certain housing components whose weights are modelled (that is, mortgage interest payments and depreciation costs). Taken together, this means that the Question can be answered only at disproportionate cost.
	Consumer prices index (CPI) weights are derived from whole economy estimates of household expenditure taken from the national accounts. The source data come from a variety of sources, including non-household surveys, and are therefore not amenable to the calculation of weights for households with incomes in the lowest quintile.

Courts: Sentencing Guidance

Lord Tebbit: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the replies by the Baroness Scotland of Asthal on 19 July (HL Deb, col. 1282) concerning sentencing guidance given to judges dealing with convicted female defendants with family responsibilities, whether they intend to amend such guidance to deal with male defendants who, alone, or in company with another male co-parent, have charge of children.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The Judicial Studies Board publication I referred to in my previous Aswer is not a Home Office publication and we have no plans to issue specific guidance to courts when sentencing parents. However, the National Offender Management Service is developing a framework for the children and families of offenders. The welfare of dependent children when single parents are given custody will form part of this.

Crime: Fuel Laundering

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many prosecutions have been brought for fuel laundering in Northern Ireland since 1 January; and how many have been successful.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: Prosecution figures for 2006 will be published in HMRC's annual report later this year. The number of convictions secured in Northern Ireland, which are related to all forms of illegal fuel activity, including laundering, during the past five years, is set out in the table below:
	
		
			  2000-2001 2001-2002 2002-2003 2003-2004 2004-2005 
			 Number of Convictions 5 15 3 4 0 
		
	
	There is a range of sanctions, of which prosecution is one, that can be taken when illicit fuel is detected. Each case is rigorously investigated and the most effective sanction is then applied.

Diabetes

Lord Harrison: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What is their response to the report and guidance issued by Diabetes UK and others entitled Diabetes and the Police Officer.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: We are considering the report Diabetes and the Police Officer and the need for further guidance to forces.
	In October, we will issue updated guidance to forces in England and Wales on disability and the police, in line with the Disability Discrimination Act 2005, which comes into force on 5 December 2006. The guidance will take account of good practice in relation to diabetes.

Divorce

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will consult the adherents of faiths other than Judaism on the possible extension of the Divorce (Religious Marriage) Act 2002 to protect the rights and interests of those married in accordance with prescribed religious usages other than those of persons of the Jewish faith.

Baroness Ashton of Upholland: The Government have no current plans to consult on this issue.

Energy: Fuel Ethanol

Lord Christopher: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What assessment they have made of the impact on food supply and prices in the United Kingdom of the worldwide diversion of significant volumes of wheat and other crops to the production of fuel ethanol; and
	What assessment they have made of the impact on agricultural policy in the United Kingdom of the worldwide diversion of significant volumes of wheat and other crops to the production of fuel ethanol.

Lord Rooker: The primary market for wheat and other crops is still the food market despite the recent increases in their use for biofuels. The availability and price of the feedstocks have played an important role in the development of the biofuel sector. The most rapid development of the bioethanol market has been in countries with large surplus production in crops that can be used to produce bioethanol. In the UK, biofuel production offers new markets for the UK cereals and oilseeds surpluses. However, in practice, it is likely that the UK sector will use a mixture of home-grown and imported crops, recycled waste vegetable oils and tallow, and imported biofuels.
	In the short term, bioethanol production will mainly use cereals and other food crops as feedstock. The market, through the price mechanism, will guide the allocation of the crops to the different sectors.
	Over the medium to long term, it is likely that second generation biofuels derived from cheaper and more abundant feedstocks, such as straw or waste products, will play an important role in meeting the increased ethanol demand. Rising prices for food crops would give additional impetus to the development of technologies for the production of biofuels based on alternative feedstocks.

Energy: Fuel Ethanol

Lord Christopher: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What assessment they have made of the impact on the supply of food aid of the worldwide diversion of significant volumes of wheat and other crops to the production of fuel ethanol.

Baroness Amos: DfID is in the early stages of weighing up the arguments and evidence on how production of biofuels, including ethanol and biodiesel, could impact on food production and food aid. Overall, more evidence, including on the right balance between food and fuel production in different regions, is needed. We will continue to monitor the situation carefully.
	In 2005 production of fuel ethanol rose by 19 per cent, driven largely by rising oil prices. There is no evidence that this has so far affected the supply of food aid. Food shortage and famine are more related to poor distribution and a shortage of disposable income to buy food rather than agricultural production or provision of food aid.
	Expansion of the area under biofuel crops is likely to happen in countries with the right growing conditions and sufficient land. This could reduce the area of land devoted to food production. However some energy crops can be grown on degraded land too marginal for food crops; others can promote land restoration.
	There are ways that the trade-offs between food and biofuel production can be managed. Increasing the productivity of both food and energy crops can promote economic growth and poverty reduction. Crops can be developed that yield much higher quantities of energy per unit of land or water, or that generate by-products that can be used for bioenergy.
	DfID plans to support the Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP), announced at the G8 in Gleneagles in 2005 and launched this year. This will promote collaboration between developed and developing countries. We will continue to support international efforts to increase food production, for example through the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, and to increase poor people's access to food.

Energy: Fuel Ethanol

Lord Christopher: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What is the carbon dioxide release arising from the production of fuel ethanol and bio-ethanol compared with the carbon dioxide reduction resulting from using ethanol instead of petrol or diesel, taking into account the net volume of carbon dioxide released in the course of growing and harvesting a crop such as wheat or sugar beet.

Lord Rooker: The amount of carbon emitted during production, and saved through substituting bioethanol for petrol, depends on the feedstock used, the way the crop is cultivated, the way it is processed, how that processor is powered, and the mode and mileage travelled by the feedstock and the bioethanol before it is used. The following table gives average figures for the net lifecycle reduction in carbon dioxide emissions for various feedstocks:
	
		
			 Feedstock Processing Technique Average reduction in carbon emissions compared to fossil fuel 
			 Sugar Cane Sugar Distillation 89 per cent 
			 Sugar Beet Sugar Distillation 40 per cent 
			 Wheat Starch Distillation 40 per cent 
		
	
	Emissions can be further reduced if low input methods of cultivation are used and renewable energy replaces fossil fuels in the production process. In the longer-term, second generation technologies offer opportunities for even greater reductions in emissions.

Energy: Nuclear Waste

Lord Inglewood: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What steps they are taking to reassure the public that the choice of location for an underground repository for the United Kingdom's long-term nuclear waste will be made solely on its technical merits and that there will be no presumption in favour of or against siting it in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

Lord Rooker: The Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM) has undertaken an extensive programme of work and rigorous assessment of all the options for the long-term management of the UK's, radioactive waste. CoRWM announced an integrated package of draft recommendations on 31 July 2006.
	The package included recommendations that geological disposal is the best option for the long-term management for the UK's higher activity, radioactive waste and that the Government should look to develop partnership arrangements, linked to appropriate involvement and benefit packages with local authorities and communities as a means of securing facility siting.
	The Government welcome the report and will issue a full response as soon as practicable after the respective Parliaments and the Welsh Assembly have reconvened.

Equality: Age Discriminiation

Lord MacKenzie of Culkein: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will defer the implementation of the age discrimination regulations pending further representations from the Confederation of British Industry and other parties.

Lord Sainsbury of Turville: The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations come into force on 1 October 2006 as planned. However, in response to feedback from CBI and others, amending regulations laid on 8 September mean that the pension provisions in the age regulations will not now come into force until 1 December, to give more time for schemes to adjust and for consideration of any further representations.

EU: Candidate Countries

Lord Patten: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	On what occasions in the last year they have raised (a) religious freedoms, and (b) freedom of speech, with the three candidate countries for membership of the European Union, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey; and what were the outcomes of these discussions.

Lord Triesman: We have not raised religious freedoms or freedom of speech with Romania or Bulgaria in the last year. We have, however, raised our concerns on a number of occasions in the last year with the Turkish Government on these issues and continue to press for further progress. Turkey remains committed to meeting the Copenhagen political criteria and will be subject to intense scrutiny throughout accession negotiations.

EU: Council of Ministers

Lord Tebbit: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Triesman on 18 July (WA 173), which stated that "there are no decisions now taken in the legal fora of the United Kingdom which were formerly taken in the legal fora of the European Union", when they became aware that the answer on 6 June (Official Report, col. 1131) that "there has been a certain ebb and flow between decisions taken in the legal fora of Europe and those taken here" was not wholly correct.

Lord Triesman: The Government became aware on 15 June 2006, following the noble Lord's Question, that the noble Lord, Lord Tebbit, had understood my intervention in the debate in the House of 6 June differently from the way in which I had. As I said on 6 June, there is a strong desire under the provisions for subsidiarity to see our Parliament take as many decisions as it can, and we have argued strenuously that those decisions that we regard as being within our sovereign right should remain in the UK. We will continue to do so. My reference to the "ebb and flow" of decisions had, of course, to be understood in the context that I provided in the debate and which I have repeated here and in my Answer to the noble Lord on 18 July (WA 173).

EU: Legal Basis of Initiatives

Lord Pearson of Rannoch: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Which current European Union initiatives depend for their legal basis on Articles 94, 95 and 308 of the Treaty Establishing the European Communities; and what is their assessment of the justification of such legal basis.

Lord Triesman: The information requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
	In assessing the legal basis of proposals brought forward by the Commission, the Government follow tests laid down by the European Court of Justice in case law dating back to the 1980s and consider the proposal as a whole, and in particular its aim and content. In the case of Article 308 and in order for it to be used as a legal base for action, the article requires that a proposal be necessary for the attainment of a Community objective, and have unanimous support at the Council. The Government have given an undertaking that where the Commission puts forward a legislative proposal citing Article 308 as its legal base, the Commission's justification of this choice of legal base will be provided to the Scrutiny Committee.

European Court of Human Rights

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many cases at the European Court of Human Rights have been judged against the United Kingdom since the appeals procedure was introduced; and how many of these judgments were appealed successfully.

Lord Triesman: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not hold the information which the noble Lord has requested. Some of this information is, however, available from the annual reports of the European Court of Human Rights, which can be found on the Court's website at: http://www.echr.coe.int/ECHR/EN/Header/Reports+and+Statistics/Reports/Annual+surveys+of+activity/.

Extradition

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Baroness Scotland of Asthal on 12 July (WA 123), in what respects there is a relevant lack of reciprocity between the legal systems of the United States and the United Kingdom as regards rules or evidence and case law in relation to extradition.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: As I explained in my Written Answer of 12 July, the position is that the legal systems of the UK and US are broadly comparable for the purposes of extradition.

Extradition

Lord Tebbit: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	For each of the last 30 years for which records are available, how many extradition requests have been made to the United States authorities in respect of persons wanted in connection with allegations of terrorist crimes connected with Northern Ireland; and how many of those were granted.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: From the records available, seven extradition requests were made to the United States authorities in respect of persons wanted in connection with allegations of terrorist crimes connected with Northern Ireland. Of these seven requests, three were granted. None of these requests, however, was in the past 11 years.

Extradition: Human Rights

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Baroness Scotland of Asthal on 24 July (WA 224), whether the Answer means that the powers conferred upon the Secretary of State by the Extradition Act 2003 must be exercised compatibly with Section 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: Yes. The powers conferred upon the Secretary of State by the Extradition Act 2003 must be exercised compatibly with Section 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998.

Family Breakdown

Lord Patten: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Baroness Andrews on 28 June (WA 160), whether it is their view that family breakdown is not a major feature of deprivation.

Baroness Andrews: The Government recognise that family breakdown is a serious matter and can be a major cause of deprivation or disadvantage. We have policies in place to help tackle the consequences. But while it can be a driver of other forms of deprivation, it is not a direct measure of deprivation in its own right. Family breakdown may have negative effects on family members but conversely it may have positive effects (such as if the relationship involved violence). Measuring the negative effects of family breakdown and expressing these at an area level is therefore not possible.

Firearms: Licensing

Lord Marlesford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What progress has been made with the Beta pilot tests of the National Firearms Licensing Management System, required by Section 39 of the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997; and what is now the date by which they expect the system to be become fully operational.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: Live pilot testing has been successfully completed and rollout to all forces has now begun. The National Firearms Licensing Management System is currently operational in three forces and the aim is to complete the rollout by March 2007.

Firearms: Licensing

Lord Marlesford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What steps are being taken to ensure that the National Firearms Licensing Management System is online to the police national computer.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The National Firearms Licensing Management System is currently being rolled out to all forces. The aim is to complete this process by March 2007. The data cleansing exercise which is needed before an interface with PNC can be successfully made will be carried out on a force by force basis after each has been migrated to NFLMS.

First Aid

Lord Harrison: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What is their response to the British Red Cross proposal, Life. Live it. The case for first aid education in UK schools, published in September.

Lord Adonis: There is scope in the non-statutory personal social and health education framework for schools to explore safety and emergency procedures as part of the curriculum. At key stage 3, the framework suggests pupils should be taught "basic emergency procedures and where to get help and support". At key stage 4, pupils should be taught to "develop basic skills to cope with emergency situations that require basic aid procedures, including resuscitation techniques".
	As personal social and health education is non-statutory, the implementation of the subject is decided by schools on an individual basis. However, we welcome the development of the "Life. Live it" resources by the British Red Cross, which will help teachers in addressing these areas of the framework.

Fish

Baroness Byford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Why they have not compensated the 33 fish farmers in Yorkshire who have been affected by movement restrictions due to viral haemorrhagic septicaemia, when only one farm was found to be infected, bearing in mind that other European Union countries have offered compensation in similar circumstances.

Lord Rooker: It is not this department's policy to pay compensation to fish farmers affected by movement restrictions due to an outbreak of serious fish disease. When viral haemorrhagic septicaemia (VHS) was confirmed on a farm in North Yorkshire on 26 May, movement controls were placed on the area we considered initially to be at risk from the spread of the disease. Following an extensive round of sampling and testing of farmed and wild fish and other epidemiological investigations, we were able to announce a reduction in the size of the area under restriction on 10 August. The immediate effect of this was to enable the majority of the 33 farms originally affected by the controls to resume normal trade in live fish. Throughout this period we worked closely with fish farmers and their representatives to minimise the impact of controls by allowing certain movements where scientific evidence suggested that it was safe to do so.
	As a general policy on animal health issues, we are moving towards greater cost-sharing with industry. In line with this principle, we have asked industry to consider the establishment of a hardship fund to assist farmers most acutely affected by disease control arrangements. We will look closely at any such initiative, including the possibility of providing some form of assistance to help pump prime a fund.

Fluoridation

Earl Baldwin of Bewdley: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Why the study of fluoride bioavailability conducted in the School of Dental Sciences at the University of Newcastle, which they cited in support of their policy of water fluoridation in the Written Answer by the Lord Warner on 28 June 2004 (WA 6), was reported in two separate publications with different analyses and conclusions; and
	Why the study of fluoride bioavailability conducted in the School of Dental Sciences at the University of Newcastle, which they stated in a Written Answer by the Lord Warner on 28 June 2004 (WA 6) as having found "no evidence for any differences" in the bioavailability of naturally and artificially fluoridated water, has not been published in a peer-reviewed journal; and
	What is their response to the second publication on the study of fluoride bioavailability conducted in the School of Dental Sciences at the University of Newcastle, which appeared in the Journal of Dental Research in November 2005 without reference to the earlier publication and with the conclusion that "any differences of bioavailability of fluoride between drinking waters were small compared with the large within- and between-subject variation"; and
	What is their assessment of the accuracy with which the two publications on the study of fluoride bioavailability conducted in the School of Dental Sciences at the University of Newcastle represent the findings of that study.

Lord Warner: The report Bioavailability of fluoride in drinking-water—a human experimental study, Report for the UK Department of Health, June 2004 was published on the website of the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. In line with normal practice, a more succinct account of the principal results of the study was prepared by the authors as a scientific paper and published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Dental Research in November 2005: Maguire A, Zohouri FV, Mathers JC, Steen IN, Hindmarch PN, Moynihan PJ. Bioavailability of fluoride in drinking water: a human experimental study. J Dent Res. 2005 Nov;84(11):989-93. This paper acknowledged the funding from the Department of Health. These are the only published reports of this study. The Department of Health believes that they are consistent and accurate reports of the study and its findings. We accept the authors' conclusions stated in the full report that; "There was no statistically significant difference between artificially fluoridated and naturally fluoridated water, or between hard and soft water for Tmax, Cmax, or Area under the Curve for plasma fluoride concentration following water ingestion in healthy young adults. Based on the power of the study to detect differences, some caution is necessary when interpreting the results, but within the limits imposed by the small number of subjects, this study found no evidence for any differences between the absorption of fluoride ingested in artificially fluoridated drinking water, and in drinking water in which the fluoride is present naturally, or between the absorption of fluoride from hard and soft waters, at fluoride concentrations close to 1 part per million". We also accept the conclusion reached in the paper published in the Journal of Dental research that: "any differences in bioavailability of fluoride between drinking waters in which the fluoride is present naturally or added artificially, or the waters are hard or soft, are small compared with the large within-and between-subject variation in F absorption following ingestion of drinking waters with F concentrations close to 1 part per million".

Fluoridation

Earl Baldwin of Bewdley: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Warner on 2 February (WA 69), (a) when they will produce guidance on how strategic health authorities should monitor the health of populations receiving fluoridated water; and (b) whether this will take account of actual health outcomes and not simply the proxy measure of intakes of fluoride.

Lord Warner: Section 90A(1) (a) of the Water Industry Act 1991, as inserted by Section 58 of the Water Industry Act 2003, requires strategic health authorities (SHAs) with fluoridation schemes to monitor the effects on the health of persons living in their areas. Section 90A(3) requires an SHA to publish a report on their findings within the period of four years from the commencement of this section of the Act. We will be issuing guidance during 2007, which we intend should involve the monitoring of appropriate health indices in relation to water fluoridation.

Food: Polluted Whale and Dolphin Meat

Lord Ashcroft: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What assessment they have made of the effects to human health of consuming polluted whale and dolphin products, especially in children or women that are pregnant or breastfeeding..

Lord Rooker: Her Majesty's Government have made no assessment of the effects to human health of consuming polluted whale and dolphin products. Nevertheless, we are aware that the presence of organochlorines (such as polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs), dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and dioxin) and heavy metals (such as methylmercury) in whales have led to several Japanese and other international toxicologists voicing concerns about the health risks associated with eating contaminated whale meat.
	It is widely known that north Atlantic minke whales caught by Norway have such high levels of PCBs in their blubber that, under Japanese law, it would be illegal for Japan to import and sell them for human consumption.
	Norway's Food Safety Authority and Iceland's Directorate of Health have advised pregnant and nursing women to reduce, or stop eating whale meat because of high levels of contaminants.
	The negative effects on human health through consumption of cetacean products is an emerging issue that the UK believes the International Whaling Commission is wholly competent to address.

Foot and Mouth Disease

Baroness Byford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Foot and Mouth Disease (England) Order 2006 (S.I. 2006/182), what information the signs indicating boundary zones referred to in Article 44 should contain; whether the signs should be of a standard size and construction; and whether local authorities will be responsible for the construction of the signs and for meeting the costs of their erection.

Lord Rooker: Local authorities have responsibility for erecting road signs under the Foot and Mouth Disease Order. Although local authorities will have to work within their existing budgets during any animal disease outbreak, central government may finance any additional resource or equipment requirements. The process to support this is subject to ongoing discussion.
	Local Authority Co-ordinators of Regulatory Service (LACORS) have produced guidance on the erection of road signs during a notifiable disease situation, in consultation with Defra, the State Veterinary Service and the Department for Transport. The guidance was produced as a result of the recent focus on avian influenza.
	The broad aspects referred to in the Question are already covered within the following guidance: guidance on public rights of way and other access signs in a disease situation; Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002 animal disease template (Diagram 574 of Schedule 1); additional guidance on the animal disease template; public rights of way sign template; template for restricting access to land other than public rights of way.
	Copies of these have been left in the House Library.

Forced Marriages

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answers by the Lord Triesman on 20 June (WA 73) and 28 June (WA 160) and in view of statements reported in the Times of 24 July, whether they will reconsider their decision not to create a criminal offence of forcing someone into wedlock without consent.

Lord Triesman: We have made clear, as the Times article cited by the noble Lord acknowledges, that forced marriage is an unacceptable abuse of fundamental rights and a form of domestic violence.
	While we have decided, at this point, not to create a specific criminal offence of forcing someone into marriage, we have not ruled out the possibility of developing new legislation to tackle the issue in the future. We believe, however, that this should only be done if gaps are identified where existing legislation is not sufficient to deal with specific aspects of forced marriage. We shall look carefully at this issue.
	We remain fully committed to making clear that forced marriage is unacceptable and to ensuring that everyone has the right to enter into marriage freely and with their full consent. We believe that, in order to tackle forced marriage more effectively, we need to take forward the recommendations for non-legislative action made by respondents to the recent public consultation. We agree that training of professionals alone will not suffice, and will be following up the recommendations, favoured by the majority of respondents, for further awareness-raising campaigns and education as key tools in maximising the effect of existing laws.
	I refer the noble Lord to the document Forced Marriage: A Wrong Not A Right, which contains a synthesis of the responses by stakeholders to the public consultation, a copy of which rests in the Library of the House. The document's findings reflect the views of respondents, many of whom are intimately involved in dealing with forced marriage, on the issues raised in the Times article.

Freud Communications: Government Contracts

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	For each of the past three years, what contracts have been awarded and what payments have been made to Freud Communications by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and its successor departments.

Baroness Andrews: The directorate of communications has no record of any payments being made to Freud Communications by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister or its successor departments.

Gambling: Casino Licences

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What investigations they have made to ensure that evidence concerning casino applications, especially from religious bodies, is authentic and does not misrepresent the views of the organisations concerned.

Baroness Amos: The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has established the Casino Advisory Panel to recommend to her the local authority areas where the 17 new casinos permitted under the Gambling Act 2005 should be located. All representations on the casino applications have been made to the panel. It is for the panel to assess the evidence that it receives.

Government

Lord Tebbit: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they propose to take any action with regard to the extent to which the Government represent the community which they serve.

Baroness Ashton of Upholland: The Government believe they are representing the community they serve by introducing the minimum wage, running a sound economy, raising standards in schools and hospitals and upholding our responsibility in the world and will continue to do so.

Government Appointments: Northern Ireland

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Which appointments to government positions in Northern Ireland are not governed by open competition rules; and, if any exist, how the appointments are made.

Lord Rooker: Appointments to the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) are made on the basis of merit in fair and open competition. The principles underpinning the merit principle are outlined in the Northern Ireland Civil Service Commissioners' recruitment code.
	There may be specific circumstances in which there exist strong and compelling grounds to depart from the merit principle, and they are also set out in the commissioners' code as "Exceptions to the Merit Principle". They are: where a person is appointed on secondment; where a person holds a situation in another Civil Service of the Crown; where a person is or has recently been employed on functions that are being or have been transferred to the Crown; where the appointment is justified for reasons relating to the needs of the Civil Service and the person proposed for appointment is of proven distinction; and where a person has been selected for an appointment under government programmes to assist the unemployed and the total period of employment does not exceed three years.

Government Departments

Lord Steinberg: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What were the total central costs of supporting the Northern Ireland Office, the Scotland Office, and the Wales Office over the past three years.

Baroness Ashton of Upholland: The costs of running the Northern Ireland Office, the Scotland Office and the Wales Office over the past three years are disclosed in the table below. Costs represent resource outturn as disclosed in the Northern Ireland Office's resource accounts (for Northern Ireland) and the Department for Constitutional Affairs' resource accounts (for the Scotland and Wales Offices).
	
		
			  2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 
			  £000s £000s £000s 
			 The Northern Ireland Office 1,039,185 1,092,677 1,292,038 
			 The Scotland Office 6,283 4,050 3,638* 
			 The Wales Office 3,591 3,883 4,308* 
		
	
	The Northern Ireland Office is a department in its own right and has responsibility for Northern Ireland's constitutional and security issues, in particular law and order, political affairs, policing and criminal justice. Since the Northern Ireland Executive was suspended in October 2002 the Northern Ireland Office also assumed responsibility for economic and social matters. The executive functions that were previously the responsibility of the Scotland and Wales Offices transferred to the devolved Assemblies on 1 July 1999.
	*The Department for Constitutional Affairs' 2005-06 resource accounts are currently subject to final audit. The costs of running the Scotland and Wales Offices are not expected to change.

Government Departments: Independent Expert Reports

Lord Avebury: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What reports of independent experts have been commissioned by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office during the current session of Parliament; and, in each case, on what date the draft report was (a) received; (b) approved for grammar, spelling and syntax; (c) first submitted for Ministerial approval; and (d) published.

Lord Triesman: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) commissioned Aisha Gill of Roehampton University to produce an analysis of responses to forced marriage consultation, following a single tender process in November/December 2005. The draft report was received on 24 February and approved for grammar, spelling and syntax on 18 May. The report was first submitted for ministerial approval on1 March and published by the Central Office of Information on 7 June 2006.
	The FCO also commissioned David Mansfield to produce Exploring the Shades of Grey: Understanding the Process of Change in Factors that Influence Households in their Decision to Cultivate Opium Poppy in the 2005/06 Growing Season. The draft report was received at the beginning of February and approved for grammar, spelling and syntax in mid-February. It was first submitted for ministerial approval in late February and published on the FCO website on 2 March 2006.
	No other reports of independent experts have been published in this period.

Government Departments: Special Advisers

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Bassam of Brighton on 10 July (WA 89), how many assistants currently support special advisers to Ministers in the Home Office; and what is the nature of their services.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: 2.5 members of staff currently support the special advisers to Ministers in the Home Office. Staff are employed to provide support of a non-political nature in accordance with the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers.

Government Departments: Special Advisers

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Bassam of Brighton on 10 July (WA 89), how many assistants currently support special advisers to Ministers in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office; and what is the nature of their services.

Lord Triesman: Four members of staff currently provide support to the special advisers to Ministers in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office among other duties. Staff provide general administrative support to special advisers including diary management, filing and arranging meetings. This support is of a nonpolitical nature in accordance with the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers.

Government Departments: Special Advisers

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Bassam of Brighton on 10 July (WA 89), how many assistants currently support special advisers to Ministers in the Department for Communities and Local Government; and what is the nature of their services.

Baroness Andrews: Two members of staff are employed to support special advisers to Ministers in the Department for Communities and Local Government. These staff provide support of a non-political nature in accordance with the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers.

Government Departments: Special Advisers

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Bassam of Brighton on 10 July (WA 89), how many assistants currently support special advisers to Ministers in the Department for International Development; and what is the nature of their services.

Baroness Amos: Special advisers in the Department for International Development are supported by one assistant, who is employed to provide support of a non-political nature in accordance with the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers.

Government Departments: Special Advisers

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Davies of Oldham on 20 July (WA 204), what is the nature of the services provided by each of the three assistants to special advisers within the Department for Transport.

Lord Davies of Oldham: Staff provide general administrative support to special advisers, including diary management, filing and arranging meetings.

Government Departments: Special Advisers

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Warner on 20 July (WA 203), what is the nature of the services provided by each of the two assistants to special advisers within the Department of Health.

Lord Warner: Staff provide general administrative support to special advisers, including diary management, filing and arranging meetings.

Government Departments: Special Advisers

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord McKenzie of Luton on 20 July (WA 204), what is the nature of the services provided by each of the three full-time assistants to special advisers to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: As set out in paragraph 11 of the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers, business support staff are employed "to provide support of a non-political nature".

Government Departments: Special Advisers

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Rooker on 20 July (WA 204), what is the nature of the services provided by the member of staff and the Private Office staff to the special advisers within the Northern Ireland Office.

Lord Rooker: Staff provide general administrative support to the special advisers.

Government Departments: Special Advisers

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What is the role of Mr Phil Taylor, political adviser to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland; on whose authority he makes decisions; and whether he has a role in the selection and transmission of information from senior civil servants to the Secretary of State.

Lord Rooker: The special adviser's role and relationships with departments and officials are in accordance with the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers issued by the Cabinet Office's Propriety and Ethics Team.

Government Departments: Special Advisers

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Adonis on 24 July (WA 226), what is the nature of the services provided by each of the four assistants to special advisers within the Department for Education and Skills.

Lord Adonis: Staff provide general administrative support to special advisers, including diary management, filing and arranging meetings.

Government Departments: Special Advisers

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Rooker on 24 July (WA 226), what is the nature of the services provided by each of the three assistants to special advisers within the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Lord Rooker: Staff provide general administrative support to special advisers, including diary management, filing and arranging meetings.

Government Departments: Special Advisers

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Bassam of Brighton on 24 July (WA 226), what is the nature of the services provided by the assistant to special advisers within the Cabinet Office.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: Administrative support of a non-political nature is provided to special advisers within the Cabinet Office.

Government Departments: Special Advisers

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Sainsbury of Turville on 24 July (WA 226), what is the nature of the services provided by the two assistants to special advisers within the Department of Trade and Industry.

Lord Sainsbury of Turville: Staff provide general administrative support to special advisers including diary management, filing and arranging meetings.

Government Departments: Special Advisers

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Davies of Oldham on 25 July (WA 260), what is the nature of the services provided by the assistant to the special advisers within the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Baroness Amos: Staff provide general administrative support to special advisers including diary management, filing and arranging meetings.

Government Departments: Special Advisers

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 25 July (WA 286), what is the nature of the services provided by each of the two assistants to the special advisers within the Department for Work and Pensions.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: Staff provide general administrative support to special advisers including diary management, filing and arranging meetings.

Government Departments: Special Advisers

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Baroness Ashton of Upholland on 25 July (WA 259), what is the nature of the services provided by each of the two assistants to the special advisers in the Department for Constitutional Affairs.

Baroness Ashton of Upholland: Staff provide general administrative support to special advisers including diary management, filing and arranging meetings.

Government Documents

Lord Hanningfield: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether any government files or records were destroyed in the fire on the 13th and 14th July at the paper records warehouse in Twelvetrees Crescent, Bow, London; and, if so, what those files or records contained.

Baroness Ashton of Upholland: The National Archives (TNA) did not store any files or other records at the paper warehouse in Twelvetrees Crescent, Bow, London. We are asking government departments if they have lost records. I will write to the noble Lord with this information shortly.

Gulf War Illnesses

Lord Morris of Manchester: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether any research funded by the Ministry of Defence into the illnesses of veterans of the 1990-91 Gulf War has caused the Ministry to question the findings of research funded by the Government of the United States into the number of troops exposed to fall-out from the demolition by United States forces of the Iraqi chemical arms stored at Khamisiyah and elsewhere in southern Iraq in March 1991; and what is their estimate of the number of British troops exposed to the fall-out.

Lord Drayson: The key finding of epidemiological studies by US authorities into the demolitions carried out at Khamisiyah in March 1991 was that there was no evidence of significant health differences between exposed and non-exposed servicemen. Research funded by the Ministry of Defence into the ill health reported by UK veterans of the 1990-1991 Gulf conflict has given us no reason to question the basic findings of this or other related research by US authorities. We published a Written Statement on 27 January 2005 (Official Report, column WS58) setting out the estimated number of UK service personnel who may have been within the area of possible exposure (with the closest some 130 kilometres from Khamisiyah). A copy of our paper Review of Modelling of the Demolitions at Khamisiyah in March 1991 and Implications for UK personnel is available in the Library of the House and on the Ministry of Defence website at www.mod.uk.

Gulf War Illnesses

Lord Morris of Manchester: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What is the total funding to date on research into the illnesses of veterans of the 1990-91 Gulf War; and whether they have received information on the cost to date of similar research funded by the Government of the United States and on any projected increases in such funding.

Lord Drayson: I refer my noble friend to the answer I gave on 22 June (Official Report, col. WA 99).

Gulf War Illnesses

Lord Morris of Manchester: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What steps they have taken to ensure that British veterans of the 1990-91 Gulf War are kept informed of research into Gulf War illnesses funded by the Government of the United States; and what was the most recent date on which veterans were updated on its findings.

Lord Drayson: The Government does not routinely publicise the findings of research into Gulf veterans' illnesses sponsored by other nations because, in common with other scientific research, findings are generally published by the authors. In the case of US Government funded research, the findings are accessible on the Department of Veterans Affairs' website. The research in question is therefore already publicly accessible.

Food Safety: Ports

Baroness Byford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the duties of local authorities with regard to food cover airports and airfields within their jurisdiction; and, if so, why ports have separate health authorities as indicated in the Contaminants in Food (England) Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/1464).

Lord Warner: We have been advised by the Food Standards Agency that local authorities are responsible for enforcement of food safety legislation at airports and airfields and seaports within their jurisdiction under Section 6(2) of the Food Safety Act 1990.
	Port health authorities (PHAs) are designated by the Department of Health for the purposes of administering a range of environmental health functions at docks and seaports. PHAs can comprise single local authorities or joint boards, covering more than one local authority. PHAs cannot be constituted at airports as airports do not fall within the definition of a port in the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979.
	The Food Safety Act 1990, at Section 5(3)(a), stipulates that where functions under the Act have been assigned by other legislation to a PHA, references in the Act to a food authority are to be read as references to a PHA. That division of responsibilities is preserved in regulations made under the Act (such as the Contaminants in Food (England) Regulations 2006).

Home Office: Deportations

Lord Ouseley: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Baroness Scotland of Asthal on 26 June (WA 131—32), whether any update to the House on the organisational failings of the Home Office will include an answer to the question of what action has been taken against those who have failed to effect lawful deportations of convicted foreign nationals.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The Secretary of State for the Home Department has asked the director-general of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate to oversee a specific review of the failings which led to the release of 1,013 foreign national prisoners without deportation consideration. The review will commence once the Immigration and Nationality Directorate has addressed our main priority of dealing fully with all these 1,013 cases.

Home Office: Immigration and Nationality Directorate

Lord Marlesford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many persons are currently employed by the Home Office Immigration and Nationality Directorate; and, of these, how many are United Kingdom nationals.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: The number of persons currently employed by the Home Office Immigration and Nationality Directorate on 30 June 2006 was 18,248, which amounts to 17,380 full-time equivalents. The Home Office does not centrally record information on the nationality of employees who fulfil our nationality entry requirements, so this information could only be provided at disproportionate cost. The only exceptions are records of those foreign nationals who are employed under the exceptional circumstances set out in the Aliens' Employment Act 1955. The Immigration and Nationality Directorate currently employs no foreign nationals under the terms of that Act.

Home Office: Immigration and Nationality Directorate

Lord Marlesford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What vetting procedures are currently applied to staff recruited to the Home Office Immigration and Nationality Directorate; and whether existing staff who have not been subjected to the current procedures will be re-vetted.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: It is longstanding procedure that all staff are required to have a national security clearance to the appropriate level commensurate to the duties they will be undertaking. Security clearance is valid for a maximum period of 10 years, depending on the level, and requires renewal or upgrading if the individual moves to a post which requires a higher level.

Home Office: Immigration and Nationality Directorate

Lord Marlesford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What government authority is responsible for (a) scrutinising, and (b) investigating the propriety and trustworthiness of the staff of the Home Office Immigration and Nationality Directorate.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: The Home Office is responsible for the conduct of its own staff and deals with matters relating to this in accordance with internal policies and procedures.
	In addition, since 1994, the Independent Complaints Audit Commission has been in place in order to monitor the procedures for investigating complaints about the conduct and efficiency of IND staff and increase public confidence in IND's complaints system.

Home Office: Immigration and Nationality Directorate

Lord Marlesford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Which members of the senior management of the Home Office Immigration and Nationality Directorate have been relieved of their posts or responsibilities since the beginning of 2006.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: One senior civil servant was removed from his current duties pending an investigation into how incorrect information had been provided to the Home Secretary. The investigating officer concluded that there were not grounds for disciplinary action in connection with this investigation.

Home Office: Immigration and Nationality Directorate

Baroness Sharples: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What is their policy on the recruitment of non-British nationals to the staff of the Home Office Immigration and Nationality Directorate.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: The majority of posts in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate are open to European Economic Area nationals or Commonwealth citizens with no employment restriction or time limit on their stay in the United Kingdom, as well as to British citizens. Other foreign nationals may be employed only in very exceptional circumstances, as set out in the Aliens' Employment Act 1955. Reserved posts in the Immigration Service (including immigration officers and assistant immigration officers) are open only to UK nationals.

House of Lords: Statements

Lord Wedderburn of Charlton: asked the Leader of the House:
	Why the statement on the war in Lebanon made to the House of Commons during an adjournment debate on 20 July (HC Deb, col. 510) by the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs was not also made in the House of Lords.

Baroness Amos: Adjournment debates in the House of Commons are not repeated in this House. A Statement on the situation in Lebanon was made to the House of Commons on 17 July, and repeated in this House. The Statement by the Prime Minister on the G8 Summit on 18 July also addressed events in the Middle East, and was repeated in this House.

Houses of Parliament: Disposal of Computer Equipment

Baroness Boothroyd: asked the Chairman of Committees:
	How many computers and printers from the Parliamentary Estate will be disposed of within the next twelve months; what is the cost of their disposal; and what is the cost of replacement.

Lord Brabazon of Tara: During the next 12 months, Members of the House of Lords with older equipment will be able to replace their equipment, if they wish. If all Members of the House of Lords choose to do so, 238 computers and 201 printers will be replaced. The cost of their disposal will be £6,391 and the cost of their replacement £157,755.
	Both Houses will also be upgrading the computer equipment used by their staff in the next 12 months. It is estimated that the cost of replacement will be in the region of £625,000.

Identity: Name Changes

Lord Marlesford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many United Kingdom citizens have registered a change of name with the Registrar General in each of the last five years; and whether arrangements are made to alert all appropriate government departments of such name changes.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from the Director of Macroeconomics and Labour Market at the General Register Office, Colin Mowl, to the Lord Marlesford, dated 31 July 2006.
	The Registrar General for England and Wales has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many United Kingdom citizens have registered a change of name with the Registrar General in each of the last five years; and whether arrangements are made to alert all appropriate Government departments to such name changes. I am replying in her absence. (HL7265)
	There is no provision for United Kingdom citizens to register a change of name with the Registrar General for England and Wales. The only name changes that may be recorded in the birth register are those given to infants within 12 months of birth registration. There are different provisions in force for Scotland and Northern Ireland.
	There is no legal requirement for individuals to register a change of name. There is however a facility to make a deed poll and enrol the change with the Royal Courts of Justice. After 5 years, deed polls that have been recorded in this way are deposited with the National Archive at Kew.

Immigration: Deportation

Lord Avebury: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What action they have taken following the Statement by the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Nationality on 19 July (HC Deb, col. 28WS) that the police, Crown Prosecution Service, courts and prisons depend on self-declaration of nationality to ensure that United Kingdom citizens and other persons exempted from deportation are not deported or detained (under Immigration Act powers while deportation is considered), whether immediately after the end of their imprisonment following conviction for a crime, or through re-detention after release.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: As the Statement of 19 July indicated, the Home Secretary has identified eight priority areas to be addressed in order to improve the effectiveness of arrangements for deporting foreign national prisoners. The second of these priority areas is that there is currently no legal requirement for prisoners to provide evidence of their nationality, or consistent processes for nationality to be recorded. Before the summer, staff in IND and the criminal justice agencies worked together to design possible ways of addressing this gap, including a new legal requirement. A programme of activities is currently in hand, managed through the Office for Criminal Justice Reform, to test the options with frontline staff across the criminal justice system and to examine their feasibility and relative merits, in order for recommendations to be produced by the end of October.

Immigration: Illegal Workers

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	In each of the last five years, how many employers have been prosecuted under the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996 for employing illegal immigrants; how many of these prosecutions were successful; and what sentences were given.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: Data held on the court proceedings database on the number of defendants prosecuted at magistrates' court, found guilty at all courts and sentenced for employing illegal immigrants in England and Wales for the period 2000 to 2004 can be found in the attached table.
	Prosecutions should not be seen as the sole indicator of the enforcement activity carried out to tackle illegal working. The Immigration Service regularly disrupts illegal working activity and will continue to do so, even where there is not a case for prosecution against an employer. Removing their illegal workers results in additional recruitment and training costs for employers as well as potential loss of contracts and orders and bad publicity.
	Information for Scotland is a matter for the Scotland Office and that for Northern Ireland for the Northern Ireland Office. Court proceedings data for 2005 will be available in autumn 2006.
	
		
			 Number of defendants prosecuted at magistrates' court, found guilty at all courts, and sentenced, for offences relating to employing an illegal immigrant in England and Wales (1), (2), 2000 to 2004. 
			 Defendants 
			 Employing a person subject to immigration control who has attained the age of 16 (3) Prosecuted Found Guilty Sentenced Fined 
			 2000 (4) 10 4 4 4 
			 2001 8 1 1 1 
			 2002 2 1 1 1 
			 2003 2 1 1 1 
			 2004 11 8 8 8 
			 Source: Office for Criminal Justice ReformOur ref: PQ 169-06House of Commons Number [HL6883] 
			 (1) These data are on the principal offence basis. 
			 (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. 
			 (3) The principal statute for this offence is the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996 s.8. 
			 (4) Staffordshire police force were only able to supply a sample of data for magistrates' courts proceedings covering one full week in each quarter for 2000.

Immigration: IND Practices

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many staff at the Immigration and Nationality Directorate have been disciplined in the past 12 months for improper practices in the handling of asylum and immigration applications.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: We do not categorise discipline offences in this way, but interpretation of our records shows that, of the 18,064 employed, 16 employees have been disciplined for misconduct related to the improper handling of cases or immigration offences or the provision of unauthorised advice to help individuals to make their applications over the 12 months ending 13 July 2006.

Immigration: Independent Monitor

Baroness Sharp of Guildford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	When each of the reports by the Independent Monitor under the Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 was received by the Home Office; and when each report was subsequently published.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: The Independent Monitor of certification of claims as unfounded under Section 94 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 has published two annual reports, covering 2004 and 2005 respectively. The final version of the 2004 annual report was received by the Home Office on 1 June 2005 and published on 21 July. The final version of the 2005 report was received on 6 April 2006 and published on 27 April. In each case the submission by the monitor of the final version of the report was preceded by a period of consultation on draft versions.

Immigration: Independent Monitor

Lord Avebury: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What response they have made to the report of the Independent Monitor on Entry Clearance of November 2005, published in July 2006; whether they will retain appeal rights for persons refused under the new points system until the success rate on appeals falls below 10 per cent; whether changes have been made in the criteria towards greater objectivity; and, if so, what these changes are; whether they have issued guidance to entry clearance officers in accordance with paragraph 73 of the report; whether UKvisas has focused resources on posts where substantial queues develop; and whether documentation verification reports now include details on why a document is said to be a forgery.

Lord Triesman: My right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary wrote on 19 July to formally thank the monitor for her report which contains many constructive recommendations as to how UKvisas can improve its decision quality. UKvisas has already issued guidance to visa sections to implement the agreed recommendations. This was done in July 2006.
	Section 4 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 2006 removes the right of appeal from entry clearance applications under the points-based system. Implementation of the Act will be phased in line with the introduction of the points-based-system tiers. An administrative review will give applicants the opportunity to challenge the reasons given for refusal where they believe an error of fact has been made.
	Instructions were issued to entry clearance officers on objectively assessing student and visitor applications in March, August and November 2005. These detailed how applications should be considered objectively and that subjective assessments regarding accents were not appropriate. Further guidance regarding visit applications were issued following legal advice in July 2006. All the recommendations in the independent monitor's report at paragraph 73 were covered in these instructions.
	Further instructions were issued in October 2005 advising visa sections, where there was more than one full-time entry clearance manager, to review the refusal notice before it was served. Training assessment has been overhauled to provide more transparent and focused feedback to delegates to address concerns with regard to overall and specific areas of performance including quality of decisions. In addition, a new programme of overseas refresher training has been launched for existing entry clearance staff—that includes the importance of objective assessments of applications.
	Entry clearance managers at visa sections overseas closely monitor workloads and seasonal variations in demand. UKvisas provides additional staffing on a seasonal basis in order to cope with additional demand. UKvisas also maintains a team of "floaters" who can be deployed overseas at fairly short notice in order to deal with unexpected spikes in demand. Where necessary UKvisas has also increased permanent staff resources.
	Documentation verification reports do now include details on why a document is stated to be not genuine.

Inflation

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What would have been the increase in the retail price index and the consumer price index over the past one, three and five years, using equal weights for the expenditure of each household (democratic weights) instead of weights proportional to the expenditure of each household (plutocratic weights).

Lord McKenzie of Luton: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from the Director of Macroeconomics and Labour Market, Colin Mowl, dated 14 September 2006.
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question (HL7274) which asked what would have been the increase in the retail prices index and consumer prices index over the past one, three and five years using equal weights for the expenditure of each household (democratic weights) instead of weights proportional to the expenditure of each household (plutocratic weights). I am replying in her absence.
	Information in the form requested is not readily available. Calculation of democratic weights for the retail prices index (RPI) would involve a considerable degree of manipulation of data from the Office for National Statistics' (ONS) expenditure and food survey, from which the RPI weights are derived. Specifically, the process would involve returning to the original survey data at household level (that is, each individual response). For each household, actual spending on every commodity would need to be converted into a proportion of the total expenditure incurred by that particular household. These proportions would need to be averaged across all households before using the resultant averages to produce RPI expenditure weights on a democratic basis. Special calculations would also be required to derive the weights for certain housing components whose weights are modelled (that is, mortgage interest payments and depreciation costs). This means that the question can be answered only at disproportionate cost.
	However, previously unpublished research by ONS, which is summarised in the table below, gives some indication of the difference between the use of democratic and plutocratic weights in the RPI:
	
		
			 RPI percentage change over 12 months 
			  Feb 1999 Feb 2000 Feb 2001 
			 Democratic weights 2.5 2.5 2.7 
			 Plutocratic weights (actual RPI) 2.1 2.3 2.7 
		
	
	Consumer prices index (CPI) weights are derived from whole economy estimates of household expenditure taken from the national accounts. The source data come from a variety of sources, including non-household surveys, and are therefore not amenable to the construction of democratic weights.

Inflation

Lord Steinberg: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What was the overall rate of inflation in 2005; and what is their estimate of the overall rate of inflation in 2006.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from the Director of Macroeconomics and Labour Market, Colin Mowl, dated 14 September 2006.
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question, concerning what was the overall rate of inflation in 2005; and what is the estimate of the overall rate of inflation in 2006. I am replying in her absence. (HL7357).
	There are two main measures of inflation produced by the Office for National Statistics, the consumer prices index (CPI) which forms the basis for the Government's inflation target and the retail prices index (RPI) whose many uses includes indexation of state benefits and pensions. The percentage change over 12 months in the annual average index in 2005 for the CPI is 2.1 per cent. The corresponding figure for the RPI is 2.8 per cent.
	The latest estimate of inflation in 2006 is for July when the rate of CPI inflation was 2.4 per cent and the rate of RPI inflation was 3.3 per cent.

International Criminal Tribunal

Lord Astor of Hever: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Triesman on 6 July (WA 63), what representations they have made to the leaders of the Republika Srpska regarding (a) the obstruction of the implementation of the agreement of police reconstructing; and (b) the lack of process towards full co-operation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

Lord Triesman: Both these issues were discussed during the meeting between the President of the Republika Srpska and my right honourable friend the Minister for Europe on 7 June, and form part of an ongoing dialogue with the leaders of the Republika Srpska through our embassy in Sarajevo and our embassy office in Banja Luka. We have consistently emphasised the importance of implementation of the agreement on police restructuring and full co-operation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for further progress towards the EU and NATO, and will continue to do so.

Internet

Lord Clement-Jones: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What steps they are taking to ensure the neutrality of the internet.

Lord Sainsbury of Turville: The Government's current view is that forcing all network providers to allow data traffic to flow freely without discrimination may not necessarily be the correct one. In a competitive market there is an argument for price and access discrimination which can benefit consumers as long as they are aware of what they are paying for and there are procedures in place allowing them to change service provider if they wish to quickly, easily and cheaply.

Internet

Lord Clement-Jones: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What discussions they have had with telecommunications companies, internet service providers and other interested parties regarding the neutrality of the internet.

Lord Sainsbury of Turville: The Government have discussed the issue of net neutrality with telecommunications companies, internet service providers and other interested parties via open stakeholder meetings in preparing the UK response to the EU Commission communication on the review of the European regulatory framework for electronic communication and services.
	Details about the preparation of the UK input to the review (including notes of meetings) can be found on the DTI website: http://www.dti.gov.uk/sectors/telecoms/2006review/page26449.html

Internet

Lord Clement-Jones: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What discussions they have had with (a) the Government of the United States, and (b) the European Commission regarding the neutrality of the internet.

Lord Sainsbury of Turville: UK officials have ongoing informal discussions including on network neutrality with US and European Commission officials as well as with counterparts across the EU.

Internet

Lord Clement-Jones: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they have consulted or intend to consult relevant regulatory bodies on the neutrality of the internet.

Lord Sainsbury of Turville: The Government have discussed the issue of net neutrality with Ofcom in ongoing discussions about the UK response to the EU Commission communication on the review of the European regulatory framework for electronic communication and services.
	Details about the preparation of the UK input to the review can be found on the DTI website: http://www.dti.gov.uk/sectors/telecoms/2006review/page26449.html

Iran: People's Mujahedin

Baroness Gould of Potternewton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What is their response to the declaration concerning the recognition of the legal and political status of the People's Mujahedin of Iran agreed at the congress of Iraqi people held in Ashraf City on 17 June.

Lord Triesman: Any statements or declarations made by Iraqi nationals in Iraq about the legal and political status of the "People's Mojahedin Organisation of Iran", also known as the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) inside Iraq, are a matter for the Government of Iraq. The MEK is proscribed in the United Kingdom under the Terrorism Act 2000.

Iraq

Baroness Northover: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What are the numbers of (a) United Nations; (b) European Union; (c) Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe; and (d) NATO international staff in Iraq; whether United Kingdom officials have been involved in national reconciliation talks; what progress has been made in those talks; and what progress has been made on the constitutional review.

Lord Triesman: As of 31 August 2006 there were: 104 United Nations international staff; five European Union international staff; and no NATO international military or civilian staff or international staff from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe in Iraq. The NATO training mission to Iraq consists of approximately 200 personnel contributed by several NATO nations and one non-NATO nation.
	Government officials have had no direct involvement in the national reconciliation talks. The Government of Iraq have established a National Reconciliation Committee and thematic sub-committees, and a dialogue process with stakeholders has begun. For example, Prime Minister Maliki addressed a meeting of over 600 tribal leaders in August 2006, at which a 21-point plan supporting the reconciliation process was agreed.
	A commitment to have the Council of Representatives review the constitution was key to reaching agreement on the text of the constitution in October 2005. It is now for the council to form a constitution review committee to take the review forward.

Iraq: Constitution

Lord Hylton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will seek an extension of the three month time limit for finalising all details of the constitution of Iraq; and whether they will support a unified code on the personal status of women.

Lord Triesman: The contents of the Iraqi constitution and the timescale for its review are matters for the Iraqi legislature and people. We continue to press the Government of Iraq to ensure that they comply with their international obligations and are working closely with them to promote the position and well-being of women in Iraq.

Israel and Lebanon: Arms

Baroness Northover: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What United Kingdom weaponry, equipment or components were used in the recent conflict in Israel and Lebanon.[HL7398]

Lord Drayson: The Government are aware of media reports that British-made night vision goggles were found in Lebanon and have been in close touch with the Israeli Defence Force who have confirmed that this was not the case. There were, however, two pieces of British equipment found. One was a commercially available remote video camera for which no export licence was required. The other was a thermal imaging system that was exported under licence in 1999 for use in a domestic residence. Proper procedures were followed at the time, including making a careful risk assessment. This concluded there was no reason to suspect that the equipment would be used for anything other than its described purpose.
	In other respects, we cannot give categorical details of items of UK origin used in the recent conflict. However, all applications for export licences to transfer arms and related weaponry to that region, as with all other regions, are assessed rigorously on a case by case basis against the consolidated criteria, taking full account of the prevailing circumstances at the time of application and other relevant announced government policies. Any application which fails to meet these criteria will be refused.

Israel and Palestine: Gaza

Lord Dykes: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the Government of Israel's use of weapons of heavy destruction against non-military targets in the Gaza strip and Lebanon constitutes a breach of international law and the Geneva convention proscribing attacks on civilians.

Lord Triesman: All parties must show restraint and take only proportionate measures that are in accordance with international law. We want to see a diplomatic solution. We remain concerned by the humanitarian situation. As my right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary said in another place on 20 July:
	"I know, that from the outset we have urged on all parties that they should act proportionately, and that they should do everything possible to avoid civilian violence. I regret ... the killing and injuring of, in particular, civilians in Lebanon, in Gaza or in Israel itself. Our main objective must be to establish what can be done to ameliorate the situation".—(Official Report, Commons, 20/7/06; col. 511.)

Israel: International Arrest Warrants

Baroness D'Souza: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What was the outcome of discussions with the Government of Israel on the United Kingdom Government's plans to amend current legislation on international arrest warrants.

Lord Triesman: We have explained to the Israeli Government that the Home Office has been considering a range of issues relating to the issuing of arrest warrants in international cases. Any proposals for amending the current legislation would be a matter for Parliament.

Israel: Syria and Iran

Lord Turnberg: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What representations they have made to the governments of Syria and Iran about their possible role in promoting terrorism against Israel.

Lord Triesman: We have summoned both the Syrian and Iranian Ambassador in London to discuss the current situation in Lebanon with them. As my right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary said in another place on 25 July:
	"We are gravely concerned about the crisis in Lebanon. Syrian and Iranian support for Hezbollah and other extremist groups is encouraging extremism, threatening the stability of the region and putting peace in the middle east further out of reach. We call on Syria and Iran to stop their support for Hezbollah and end their interference in Lebanese internal affairs in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions 1559 and 1680".—(Official Report, Commons, 25/7/06; col. 717.)

Israel: Syria and Iran

Lord Turnberg: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they have drawn the attention of the United Nations Security Council to the impact on the peace process in the Middle East caused by the actions of Hezbollah and Hamas with the apparent support of Syria and Iran.

Lord Triesman: We are very concerned about the role of Syria and Iran in Lebanon. Through their support for Hezbollah Iran and Syria are encouraging extremism, threatening the stability of the region, and putting peace in the Middle East further out of reach. We have called on Syria and Iran to stop their support for Hezbollah and end their interference in Lebanese internal affairs in accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1559 and 1680.
	As we said at the UN Security Council on 21 July, "Hezbollah does not act alone. As other speakers have said, behind it, lending support and giving direction, are Syria and Iran. Syria provides material support to Hezbollah and facilitates the transfer of weapons, including thousands of missiles, which appear to be supplied by Iran to Hezbollah. Ultimately, long-term stability will be possible only if Syria and Iran end their interference in Lebanese internal affairs, in accordance with Resolutions 1559 (2004) and 1680 (2006)".

Lebanon: Civilian Casualties

Lord Dykes: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What representations they will make to the United Nations on the possible classification as war crimes of the recent killing by military strikes of an estimated total of 90 Lebanese children and five Israeli children.

Lord Triesman: While Israel has every right to act in self-defence against these provocative acts, we nevertheless share the serious concern in the UN and elsewhere about the number of deaths, casualties and displaced persons that have been caused as a result of this conflict. We have urged Israel to act proportionately, to conform to international law and to avoid civilian death and suffering. As my right honourable friend the Prime Minister said on 18 July, "It is important that Israel's response is proportionate and does its best to minimise civilian casualties, but it would stop now if the soldiers, who were wrongly kidnapped when Hizbollah crossed the United Nations blue line, were released. It would stop if the rockets stopped coming into Haifa, deliberately to kill innocent civilians".

Lebanon: International Peace Force

Lord Dykes: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will ensure that the newly proposed international peace force to be sent to Lebanon under United Nations auspices will exclude military personnel from the United States and the United Kingdom.

Lord Drayson: Her Majesty's Government (HMG) are actively discussing with international partners options to help to resolve the current Middle East crisis. Any international force would need the support of, among others, the Lebanese Government and Israel. If a force were to be deployed, HMG would consider, with international partners, how best they could support any such effort, taking into account our existing military commitments. The involvement of US military personnel is a matter for the US Government.

Lebanon: War Crimes

Lord Hylton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will gather any available evidence of war crimes against humanity from the Middle East conflict since 1 July with a view to presenting cases to the International Criminal Court.

Lord Triesman: We remain deeply concerned by the situation in the Middle East and have called for all sides to act with restraint. We share the serious concern of the UN and others about the number of deaths, casualties and displaced persons that have been caused as a result of this conflict. As my right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary said on 20 July, "from the outset we have urged on all parties that they should act proportionately, and that they should do everything possible to avoid civilian violence" (Official Report, Commons, col. 511). We have no plans to gather evidence to present to the International Criminal Court.

Licensing: Northern Ireland

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether an equality impact assessment was completed on the decision to end the surrender requirement for new pub licences in Northern Ireland and on the later decision to conduct a business review on ending the private market in drinks licences; and whether equality issues are being addressed in discussions of the surrender question.

Lord Rooker: The equality screening exercise under Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 on the proposal to abolish the surrender requirement did not identify any significant equality implications. Consequently, an equality impact assessment was not considered necessary.

London: Museums

Baroness Lockwood: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Why reference has been made to the Horniman Museum in the consultation document on the future sponsorship arrangements of the Museum of London.

Lord Davies of Oldham: I refer my noble friend to the Answer that I gave on 25 July (Official Report, col. WA 263) to my noble friend Lady Gould of Potternewton.

Lyme Bay: Scallops

Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What assessment they have made of the damage caused to the marine environment in Lyme Bay as a result of scallop dredging; and
	What assessment they have made of the monetary value of scallops taken from Lyme Bay in (a) 2004—05, and (b) 2005—06; and
	Whether English Nature has advised what area of the seabed in Lyme Bay should be protected immediately; and whether the Government will publish the advice they have received from English Nature about the damage caused to marine reefs in Lyme Bay as a result of scallop dredging; and
	What factors they will take into account in deciding whether to introduce a stop order to control scallop dredging in Lyme Bay; and whether they will introduce a stop order under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 to stop damage to the marine reefs in Lyme Bay.

Lord Rooker: We have considered very seriously the action needed to protect the pink sea fans, ross corals and sunset corals, and to protect other parts of Lyme Bay's important marine environment.
	We have worked closely over recent months with both English Nature and representatives of the fishing industry to reach a compromise on the areas of the bay to be closed. In the end, Ben Bradshaw determined that a zonal solution backed by independent scientific assessment and advice was the most proportionate way to provide the necessary protection for those areas of Lyme Bay of greatest nature conservation and marine biodiversity importance. It will also allow a valuable sustainable fishery (estimated value of up to £3 million annually) to continue where it has done for many years.
	The areas to be closed give over seven times the level of protection that was available in Lyme Bay last year and cover more than 90 per cent of the pink sea fan locations presently confirmed by English Nature and Devon Wildlife Trust surveys. Members of the South West Inshore Scallopers Association confirmed they would respect the closed areas from midnight on 24 August and have in place a system for monitoring compliance. They also undertook to advise non-members of the agreement not to fish in these areas. At the same time we will be considering, with the Devon and Southern Sea Fisheries Committees, the most appropriate legislative vehicle to make this protection statutory.
	We will also be considering suggestions that we should exclude other forms of extractive fishing from the closed zones, in order to allow the biodiversity of Lyme Bay to receive maximum benefit and to allow scallops to benefit in the open areas. Potters, gill netters, pelagic trawlers and divers will be fully consulted as we develop our ideas.

Middle East: Women

Lord Hylton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they have proposals to increase support and practical help for women's organisations throughout the Middle East.

Lord Triesman: The UK is working to support women's organisations in the Middle East, both by ensuring that women's issues are at the forefront of the international development agenda and by supporting home-grown initiatives in the region. Through the Global Opportunities Fund and the Engaging with the Islamic World programme, the UK contributes an annual £8.5 million towards a wide range of projects, which include a number of projects that support the advancement of women. Examples of current and planned projects include enhancing the participation of women parliamentarians in Jordan, supporting women's role in society in Saudi Arabia and strengthening women's civil society and the non-governmental organisations sector in Afghanistan.

Migrant Workers

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Answer by the Lord Bassam of Brighton on 17 July, what issues will be covered by the Audit Commission report on migrant workers; and when the report will be published.

Baroness Andrews: As this is an operational matter, my officials asked the Audit Commission to reply direct to the noble Lord. The chief executive subsequently replied to him on 21 July, and a copy of his letter will be placed in the Library.

Ministry of Defence: Joint Personnel Administration System

Lord Astor of Hever: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What progress they are making as regards the rollout of the Joint Personnel Administration change programme; and when rollout of the programme will be completed.

Lord Drayson: Joint Personnel Administration (JPA) was rolled out to the RAF in March 2006. Self-service functionality has been available to all personnel since 18 May.
	The rollout to the Royal Navy remains on target for implementation in October 2006. Technical improvements are being made to cope with the expected initial surge of self-service usage on rollout, additional inquiry centre staff are being recruited and trained, and an improved training package for users has been introduced.
	Rollout to the Army remains on target for implementation in March 2007.

Ministry of Defence: Sexual Harassment

Lord MacKenzie of Culkein: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many allegations of sexual harassment have been made against male officers of the Ministry of Defence Police since April 2003; in how many cases disciplinary action has been taken; and in how many cases officers have been dismissed or required to resign.

Lord Drayson: Five sets of allegations have been made against male officers of the Ministry of Defence Police since April 2003. Disciplinary action has been taken in three of the cases. Throughout the period since April 2003 no officer has been dismissed or required to resign.

MRSA

Lord MacKenzie of Culkein: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Why there has been a delay in the issue of a licence for ChloraPrep despite the recommendation of the Health Protection Agency in July 2005; and whether the use of 2 per cent chlorhexidine preparations is more effective in preventing methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) than the 0.5 per cent currently available for use in central line insertion.

Lord Warner: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency granted a licence for ChloraPrep on 10 September 2005 and the licence holder has confirmed that the product has been available since early November 2005.
	Although ChloraPrep is a preparation containing two per cent chlorhexidine gluconate in 70 per cent isopropyl alcohol and is indicated for the disinfection of pre-injection sites, the product information does not make any claims for activity against methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus.

NATO: Riga Summit

Lord Garden: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What are their priorities for the NATO summit in Riga; and whether the NATO comprehensive guidance document will be published ahead of the summit.

Lord Triesman: UK priorities for the Riga Summit will be NATO's transformation agenda and NATO operations. The aim of the former is to ensure that NATO has the necessary capabilities, structures and relationships with third countries to meet today's global security challenges. The comprehensive political guidance document is unlikely to be published ahead of the summit.

NHS: Appointments

Lord Livsey of Talgarth: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether consideration has been given to measures to encourage the recruitment of black and minority ethnic executive directors to acute National Health Service trusts in Birmingham, in view of the fact that none of the 50 listed in the most recent annual reports is from such a background.

Lord Warner: It is recognised that black and minority ethnic (BME) people remain under-represented in senior management. The Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 places a positive duty on public bodies, including the National Health Service, to promote race equality. It is therefore essential that steps are taken to ensure that NHS staffing is representative of the community it serves.
	NHS Employers has issued guidance to encourage the NHS to use the current opportunity of reorganisation to address this imbalance. The guidance includes a checklist designed to outline the recommended action that NHS employers should take to ensure that there is no direct or indirect discrimination against any particular individual or group through organisational change.
	In addition, several programmes of work underpin this Government's commitment to equality in employment in the NHS. The Positive Action project gives NHS organisations tools and good practice examples of how to redress workforce under-representation; the national NHS Black and Minority Ethnic Leadership Forum ensures a stronger voice for BME leaders in the NHS; and the Breaking Through programme aims to support the progression of BME staff into senior leadership roles. In addition, the 10-point leadership and race equality action plan, which was launched in February 2004, challenges all NHS leaders to systematically address race equality with respect to both patient care and staff.

NHS: Appointments

Lord Livsey of Talgarth: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they have given guidance to National Health Service trusts about the balance between central NHS targets and local priorities such as equality of opportunity in contracts and employment.

Lord Warner: Priorities for the National Health Service are set out in National Standards, Local Action: Health and Social Care Standards and Planning Framework 2005/06-2007/08, which can be found on the Department of Health website at http://www.dh.gov.uk. These include details of healthcare standards, existing commitments and new national targets. All National Health Service organisations are expected to meet these priorities and to achieve financial balance.
	The Department of Health has more than halved the number of national targets from 62 in 2002-03, to 44 in 2003-04 to 2005-06, and to 20 from 2005-06 to 2007/08, so the NHS can focus on the biggest priorities, leaving it free to manage other services as it sees fit.
	The department also has external gateway controls in place to ensure that no additional centrally created targets are imposed outwith those contained within National Standards, Local Action or European Union legislation. Delivery of other commitments is a matter for local determination, and local organisations and communities will set their own timescales and milestones for delivery.

NHS: Care of the Terminally Ill

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will fund the Gold Standards Framework central team work on improving care of the terminally ill in the community from 1 September; and, if so, at what level.

Lord Warner: The Government have provided £12 million of funding for the end-of-life care (EoLC) programme, to be spread out over the three years from 2004 to 2007. In 2006-07, the funding has been included as part of a block sum for strategic health authorities to manage. This incorporates funding for the Gold Standards Framework (GSF) central team, the GSF being a key strand of the EoLC programme. To ensure that the desired outcomes are achieved, the block sum will be accompanied by a service level agreement.

NHS: Care of the Terminally Ill

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What they will do to maintain work on improving care of the dying if redundancies have to be made in the central office of the Gold Standards Framework, which works to improve care of the terminally ill.

Lord Warner: The three-year end-of-life care programme to train generalist staff in the principles of palliative care, of which the Gold Standards Framework team is a part, is due to run until 2007. Additionally, the Government have recently announced the development of a strategy on end-of-life care. The strategy will be the means by which the manifesto commitment on palliative care and the programme of action on end-of-life care set out in the White Paper Our health, our care, our say will be delivered.

NHS: Community Services

Baroness Masham of Ilton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	To what extent the policy followed by some primary care trusts of reducing numbers of district nurses and health visitors supports the objectives set out in Our health, our care, our community: investing in the future of community hospitals and services.
	How services for people with long-term medical conditions or injuries will continue to be provided in their own homes following the reduction by some primary care trusts in the numbers of district nurses and health visitors.
	To what extent the policy followed by some primary care trusts of reducing numbers of district nurses, health visitors and midwives supports their policy objectives of reducing waiting times, increasing care provided in the community and preventing ill health.

Lord Warner: District nurses, health visitors and community midwives have a key role in delivering government policy objectives. It is for primary care trusts (PCTs) in partnership with strategic health authorities and other local stakeholders to ensure that there are sufficient staff to provide the primary care services needed by their local communities. This includes decisions about workforce numbers, grade and skill mix. This process provides the means for addressing local health care needs within the community.
	Our health, our care, our say requires PCTs to work with their local community and staff to develop new approaches to meeting people's healthcare needs. The expectation is for PCTs to enhance investment in community services and staff. Since 1997, there has been an increase of 37 per cent in the number of nurses working in the community.
	Many National Health Service organisations are reviewing and rationalising the way in which they work to ensure that they are fit for purpose, and this includes considering the number of staff whom they employ and how they are best used.

NHS: Independent Sector Treatment Centres

Lord MacKenzie of Culkein: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What steps are being taken to ensure independent sector treatment centres (ISTCs) carry out the number of operations and procedures for which contracts have been awarded; and whether the ban on National Health Service nurses working in ISTCs will be lifted.

Lord Warner: The Department of Health monitors and oversees the operation of the independent sector treatment centre (ISTC) contracts, supporting the work of local contract managers responsible for each contract. The department works closely with providers and local National Health Service stakeholders to ensure the utilisation of capacity purchased. Providers are required to provide monthly reports on activity allowing action to be taken to address any shortfalls.
	In relation to wave 1 ISTC contracts, no currently employed NHS nurses (or anyone who in the previous six months was employed by the NHS) can be recruited by independent sector providers.
	For phase 2 ISTC contracts clinical staff including nurses will be allowed to offer their non-contracted hours to independent sector providers subject to the approval of their NHS employer and that the use of this non-contracted time is consistent with patient safety.
	In addition to this ISTC schemes that involve a transfer of activity from the NHS to an independent sector provider already allow nurses to work in ISTCs through secondment or retention of employment arrangements.

NHS: Longridge Primary Care Trust

Lord Alton of Liverpool: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What representations they have received from general practitioners and local users regarding the effect on the Longridge district of Lancashire of the reconfiguration of the existing primary care trust; and why they declined a request for a meeting by Councillor David Smith, on behalf of objectors to the proposal.

Lord Warner: The Department of Health has received 94 letters from general practitioners and the public and a petition with 3,500 signatures objecting to the inclusion of Longridge in the new East Lancashire Primary Care Trust. The request for a meeting with Councillor David Smith was declined, since there was no scope for reversing a decision that had already been taken following full public consultation.

NHS: Longridge Primary Care Trust

Lord Alton of Liverpool: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What consideration they have given, in developing proposals for the reconfiguration of the primary care trust in the Longridge district of Lancashire, to the existing partnerships and traditional links with Preston, and to the views of patient and public involvement.

Lord Warner: Strategic health authorities led the public consultation on new primary care trust (PCT) configurations between 14 December 2005 and 22 March 2006. It was clear from the public consultation that there were concerns about the inclusion of Longridge in the new East Lancashire PCT area. The Cumbria and Lancashire Strategic Health Authority board reached the conclusion that the commissioning of healthcare would be more effective if the administrative boundaries of PCTs were coterminous with those of local authorities and, therefore, that Longridge should be included in East Lancashire PCT for those purposes. However it accepted that management of the Longridge Community Hospital should rest with the new Central Lancashire PCT and that the referral of patients by general practitioners in Longridge to Lancashire Teaching Hospitals should not change. The SHA's proposals on this issue relating to East Lancashire PCT were accepted by the Secretary of State for Health in her announcement to Parliament on 16 May and incorporated in the subsequent Primary Care Trusts (Establishment and Dissolution) (England) Order 2006 made on 24 July.

NHS: Mixed-sex Wards

Lord Marlesford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Which hospitals in England have mixed wards; and what is the estimated date by which they expect each of these hospitals to have single-sex wards.

Lord Warner: Guidance issued to the National Health Service requires the provision of single-sex accommodation through single rooms, single-sex bays within a mixed ward, single-sex wards or combinations of these types.
	The 2004 position of each NHS trust was published on 26 May 2005 and is available on the Department of Health's website at www.dh.gov.uk and in the Library. The small number of hospitals that did not achieve these objectives at that date were building new hospitals. The latest of these developments is scheduled for completion in 2010.

NHS: Neonatal Screening

Baroness Howells of St Davids: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will commission a national clinical framework for sickle cell and thalassaemia to help ensure that the potential benefits of the national newborn screening programme are fully realised.

Lord Warner: The implementation of the screening programmes for sickle cell and thalassaemia has raised the profile of the conditions and increased the demand for services with increased numbers of cases being identified. A range of work is in hand to support clinicians responsible for patients with thalassaemia and sickle cell and help to ensure that patients have access to the same quality of care, including neonates identified by the screening programme.
	A professional group led by the British Society for Haematology (on behalf of the British Committee for Standards in Haematology), and the UK Forum on Haemoglobin Disorders and supported by the Department of Health and the voluntary sector has developed national standards for the clinical care of children with sickle cell disease due for publication later this year. Standards for the clinical care of children and adults with thalassaemia in the UK were published in June 2005. The guidelines were sponsored by the UK Thalassaemia Society and endorsed by the department.
	A clinical network has now been established to ensure that the potential benefits of the screening programme are achieved and that the complications that require specialist care are managed in the right place with appropriate resources. Around 20 centres will provide comprehensive care, standardising and improving care in this area.

NHS: Nurses

Lord MacKenzie of Culkein: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What proportion of (a) permanently employed nurses, and (b) nurse bank staff have not received mandatory training; why funds made available for this training have been used for other purposes; and what steps are being taken to ensure that NHS trusts, including primary care trusts, develop and fund mandatory training for nurses.

Lord Warner: All health professionals have a duty to keep up to date in the field in which they practise. The relevant regulatory and professional bodies lay down requirements for this and failure to reach the necessary standard may call the practitioner's registration into question. The post-registration training needs of National Health Service professionals, including nurses, are decided by local NHS organisations against regulatory requirements, local NHS priorities, and through appraisal processes and training-needs analyses informed by local delivery plans and the needs of the service.
	We believe that funding for training generally should be used to ensure that staff at all levels have the opportunity to access training opportunities. In this way some may progress through the skills escalator to professional training programmes. However, it is for each strategic health authority to decide its own priorities for investment and to focus training resources where they are most needed.

NHS: Pathology Services

Earl Howe: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What is their latest estimate of the level of inappropriate pathology testing and its annual cost to the National Health Service.

Lord Warner: No estimate of the annual cost of inappropriate testing is available. However, the independent review of pathology services in England chaired by Lord Carter of Coles, in its report published on 2 August 2006, copies of which are available in the Library, identified several possible factors which could lead to inappropriate testing. These included unnecessary repeat tests and the practice of defensive medicine. The independent review did not find robust evidence in this area but estimated that a figure of 25 per cent for tests carried out in primary care and repeated unnecessarily in secondary care following the patient's admission to hospital might be approximately right.
	The Department of Health has accepted the independent review's recommendation to set up a series of pilot projects in England to build a sound evidence base on which to take forward reform of National Health Service pathology services, including reduction of inappropriate testing.

NHS: Primary Care Trusts

Lord Wedderburn of Charlton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will require every general practitioner surgery in England from which National Health Service services are offered to display the address, telephone number and e-mail address of the primary care trust under whose auspices that surgery operates.

Lord Warner: Each practice is already required to include primary care trust contact details in its practice leaflet which all practices are required to produce and make available in the surgery to their patients and to those people wishing to become patients.

NHS: Trust Chairmen

Lord Livsey of Talgarth: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether there are any guidelines on the number of hours per week which a chairman of a local National Health Service trust should be able to devote to that post.

Lord Warner: Chairs of National Health Service trusts are expected to devote on average 3 to 3.5 days per week to their role at the trust.

NHS: Turnaround Teams

Baroness Barker: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the comments by the Lord Warner on 7 June (HL Deb, col. 1269), what budget the Department of Health has allocated for the provision of turnaround teams to work with National Health Service trusts, primary care trusts and strategic health authorities; and
	How many turnaround teams have been sent to work with National Health Service trusts, primary care trusts and strategic health authorities since January 2006; and what has been the cost of these teams; and
	Whether the cost of turnaround teams for National Health Service trusts, primary care trusts and strategic health authorities are met by individual trusts or authorities or by the Department of Health centrally; and
	Which firms supply the personnel for turnaround teams for National Health Service trusts, primary care trusts and strategic health authorities.

Lord Warner: In December 2005, the Secretary of State for Health announced the creation of turnaround teams. These teams visited the National Health Service bodies identified as facing particular financial difficulties.
	This assessment stage resulted in KPMG rating organisations as 1) Immediate priority. Need for urgent intervention to drive turnaround 2) Additional expertise/resource needed to support the turnaround. 3) Drive/focus. Maintain high priority of actions. 4) Regular challenge of management. Encourage to share what works and deliver easy wins.
	A list of the firms providing support to the trusts in these categories has been placed in the Library. The Department of Health is funding the national programme office and the strategic health authorities turnaround directors but trusts and primary care trusts are responsible for funding the support they decide they require.
	The department will spend in 2005-06 and 2006-07 about £11 million (excluding value added tax and expenses) on the turnaround programme at a national and SHA level covering local baseline assessments, a national programme office, one-off local support payments and SHA turnaround directors.

Northern Ireland National Stadium

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Rooker on 12 July (WA 126) concerning the proposed National Stadium for Northern Ireland, whether they will place in the Library of the House the information on which the selection of a site at the Maze Prison was made.

Lord Rooker: The information will be placed in the Library when final agreement has been reached with the three sports and the business case for the stadium has been finally approved.

Northern Ireland Tourist Board

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Rooker on 12 July (WA 127) concerning the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, why staff sick leave increased by over 69 per cent from 2000—01 to 2005—06; and what steps are being taken to reduce the number of sick days.

Lord Rooker: The Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB) acknowledges that the increase in sickness absence figures between 2000-01 and 2005-06 is not satisfactory, but it has been largely driven by staff on long-term sickness absence and does not reflect the fact that the majority of staff have had no sickness absence. However, the level of long-term sickness remains a concern, and, following a recent review, the following steps have been taken to address the issue: revised policy and procedures for sickness absence implemented from July 2006; a new employee support programme, which includes occupational health, welfare and counselling facilities from April 2006; and a new performance management system implemented from April 2006 to improve objective setting, performance monitoring and personal development.

Northern Ireland Tourist Board

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What was the relationship between the Northern Ireland Tourist Board and the company Rural Colleges; whether the company received grant aid; and, if so, when the grant was paid.

Lord Rooker: The Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB) is assuming that Lord Laird is referring to Rural Cottage Holidays Ltd and is answering the question accordingly.
	Rural Cottage Holidays Ltd is a company limited by guarantee and a wholly owned subsidiary of NITB.
	Rural Cottage Holidays Ltd was paid £733,000 from 1995 to 2002.

Northern Ireland Tourist Board

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How much the Northern Ireland Tourist Board has spent on consultants in each year since 2000; and, in each case, what was the purpose of the consultancy.

Lord Rooker: The Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB) does not hold information for the financial years 2000-01 and 2001-02. However, the amount of money expended by the NITB on consultants, together with the purpose of the consultancy, for financial years 2002 to 2006 is detailed in the table.
	
		
			 Purpose 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 
			 Strategic Management 67,150 66,725 0 46,840 
			 Organisational Development 47,695 38,613 17,480 44,201 
			 Performance Measurement 946 0 0 0 
			 Management Accountancy 41,448 0 2,769 0 
			 Audit 0 0 17,900 0 
			 Economic Appraisal 0 67,259 89,997 71,539 
			 Feasibility Study 0 0 0 17,675 
			 Projects 52,873 46,948 114,795 168,399 
			 Surveys 125,643 124,072 181,309 132,646 
			 Marketing 0 0 1,050 12,617 
			 Market Research 0 0 0 13,877 
			 Totals £335,755 £343,617 £425,300 £507,794

Northern Ireland: Festivals

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What funding has already been agreed for nationalist festivals in (a) west Belfast; (b) Ardoyne; and (c) New Lodge; from what sources the funding was made available and after what process; and whether further funding will be made available.

Lord Rooker: Details of the festival funding agreed for (a) west Belfast; (b) Ardoyne; and (c) New Lodge in the current financial year, together with the sources, are given in the tables below:
	
		
			 West Belfast 
			 Amount Source 
			 Up to £45,000 Northern Ireland Events Company — Community Festivals Fund 
			 £99,000 Arts Council - Annual Support for Organisations Programme 
			 £9,250 (Spring Festival) Arts Council - Lottery Arts Projects 
			 Up to £100,000 DCAL - Transitional Funding 
		
	
	
		
			 Ardoyne 
			 Up to £17,000 Northern Ireland Events Company — Community Festivals Fund 
			 £3,500 Arts Council - Awards for All 
			 Up to £20,000 DCAL - Transitional Funding 
		
	
	
		
			 New Lodge 
			 Up to £13,000 Northern Ireland Events Company - Community Festivals Fund 
			 Up to £25,400 DCAL - Transitional Funding 
		
	
	The Northern Ireland Events Company awards were made using a competitive application process.
	The awards from the Arts Council were made following routine application processes.
	The transitional funding from DCAL was awarded following a review of a specific number of festivals that had a significant decrease in the amount of funding received from the previous year. Transitional funding is available for this year only.
	No further funding from the sources outlined in the tables is envisaged in the current year for the festivals specified.

Northern Ireland: Festivals

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	When the business cases for the additional funding for the nationalist festivals in west Belfast, Ardoyne and New Lodge announced on 10 July were (a) delivered, and (b) approved; by whom they were approved; and whether they will place in the Library of the House copies of all related documentation.

Lord Rooker: The case for further transitional funding for Feile an Phobail, Ardoyne Fleadh Cheoil and Greater New Lodge was reviewed in early July 2006.
	The business information reviewed included the applications to the Community Festivals Fund, the programmes for the 2006 festivals, the anticipated income and expenditure for the 2006 festivals and the rationale for funding as set out in the 2005 business cases. Copies of these documents will be placed in the Library of the House.
	The actual level of funding, up to specified amounts, is subject to contract and vouched expenditure.

Northern Ireland: Festivals

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Since the festivals were first funded, how much has been granted up to and including this year to (a) the West Belfast Irish Festival; (b) the Ardoyne Irish Festival; (c) the New Lodge Irish Festival; and (d) the Twelfth Orange celebrations in Belfast.

Lord Rooker: The funding granted to (a) the West Belfast Festival; (b) the Ardoyne Festival; (c) the New Lodge Festival; and (d) the Twelfth Orange celebrations in Belfast since the festivals were first funded is shown in the table below. Please note that the figures quoted are the amounts that were allocated to the festivals in question; the amounts actually paid out may vary slightly from the figures given.
	
		
			 Financial Year West Belfast Festival Ardoyne Festival New Lodge Festival Belfast Twelfth Orange Celebrations 
			 1994-95 £1685 Nil Nil Nil 
			 1995-96 £600 Nil Nil Nil 
			 1996-97 £89,000 Nil Nil Nil 
			 1997-98 £27,000 £95,000 £25,000 Nil 
			 1998-99 £29,229.98 £1,417 Nil Nil 
			 1999-2000 £47,630 £1,500 Nil Nil 
			 2000-01 £80,933 £1,500 £5, 600 Nil 
			 2001-02 £290,330.41 £13,500 £7,492 Nil 
			 2002-03 £249,224.26 £10,000 £13,400 Nil 
			 2003-04 £393,109 £70,080 £39,160 Nil 
			 2004-05 £379,014 £75,080 £43,110 Nil 
			 2005-06 £277,417 £70,080 £44,160 £28,165 
			 2006-07 £244,000 £40,500 £38,400 £104,200 
			 Total Awarded £2,109,172.65 £378,657 £216,322 £132,365 
		
	
	Please note the following:
	(a) The information contained in the table above may be incomplete as departments have no records of financial assistance awarded to the West Belfast Festival prior to the 1994-95 financial year.
	(b) The figure quoted in the above table for funding granted to the Ardoyne Festival in 2001-02 differs from information provided by the Department of Social Development in response to an earlier Parliamentary Question (of 21 July 2005, col. WA 308) on funding for festivals. I apologise to the noble Lord as this was due to an administrative oversight which resulted in an allocation of £11,500 to the Ardoyne Festival in 2001-02 not being incorporated in the answer.
	(c) The sum of £104,200 has recently been awarded to the County Grand Orange Lodge of Belfast by the Department for Social Development for three years commencing in 2006.

Northern Ireland: Festivals

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	When they agreed that £17,500 should be paid to the Greater New Lodge Irish Festival for an event in Belfast Castle; and how the figure was arrived at.

Lord Rooker: The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland announced on 10 July 2006 that up to £24,000 transitional funding would be offered to Greater New Lodge Festival. Of that amount, up to £9,000 was allocated for an event in Belfast Castle, in the contract issued by the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure on 21 July 2006. The figures were arrived at following a review of the application to the Community Festivals Fund, the programme for the 2006 festival, the anticipated income and expenditure for the 2006 festival and the rationale for funding as set out in the 2005 business case.

Northern Ireland: Folk and Transport Museum

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	In the light of criticism by the Northern Ireland Audit Office in its report HC1130, Session 2005—06, of 8 June, what steps the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum has taken to improve the storage facilities for its transport collection.

Lord Rooker: Following the PAC hearing on 21 June 2006 National Museums Northern Ireland is preparing a storage plan designed to address current deficits in its storage facilities, including those housing the transport collections of the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum.

Northern Ireland: Folk and Transport Museum

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What plans the Northern Ireland Folk and Transport Museum has to restore (a) a merchant schooner called the "Result"; and (b) an AEC Belfast trolleybus; and what are the plans for their future display.

Lord Rooker: A programme of conservation works has been carried out on the "Result" since her acquisition by the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum in 1970.
	The museum has undertaken to explore options for the restoration and long-term exhibition of the vessel.
	The AEC Belfast trolleybus was acquired by the museum in support of its restoration programme. The museum currently has a fully restored 1940s trolleybus on display in its road transport gallery. There are therefore no plans for the restoration and display of the vehicle at this time.

Novatech

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the company Novatech has received any public sector support; if so, what support; when; and whether they will place in the Library of the House documents about such support.

Lord Rooker: Information from departments on public sector support to the company Novatech (NI) Ltd is set out in the table below:
	
		
			 Year(s) Funder (Dept/Agency/NDPB) Programme/Initiative Amount(£) 
			 1992 LEDU Programme Development Grant 176,500 
			  LEDU Making Belfast Work Grant 368,000 
			  LEDU Venture Funding Grant 312,000 
			 1993 LEDU Programme Development Grant 660,000 
			  LEDU Making Belfast Work Grant 575,000 
			   Total 2,091,500 
		
	
	Documents relating to the above public funding are not being placed in the Library of the House at present as a company inspection is in progress. The department will place the documentation in the Library when to do so would not be potentially prejudicial to the company inspection, or any other statutory process that might arise therefrom.

Obesity and Diets

Earl Howe: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they provide information to overweight and obese National Health Service patients on the use of proven effective commercial diets; and
	Whether meal replacements for weight control, as regulated in the Foods Intended for Use in Energy Restricted Diets for Weight Reduction Regulations 1997 (SI 1997/2182), will be included in the obesity guidance currently under review by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence; and
	Whether they have examined the comparative costs of effective weight-management systems including commercial diets; and, if so, whether the results have been taken into account in developing guidelines for healthcare professionals.

Lord Warner: The Government have not examined the comparative costs of commercial diets and do not provide information on these diets to obese National Health Service patients. However, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence draft guidance on the prevention, identification, assessment and management of obesity in adults and children states that there is moderate evidence that a multi-component commercial group programme may be more effective than a standard self-help programme. There is also no strong evidence to support the use of meal replacement products over a standard low-calorie diet.

Official Gifts: Mr Philip Anschutz

Lord Hanningfield: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What gifts or mementoes purchased with public funds the Prime Minister has given to Mr Philip Anschutz or any of his associates.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: None.

Official Gifts: Prime Minister

Lord Hanningfield: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What presents, gifts or mementoes purchased with public funds the Prime Minister has given to foreign dignitaries either while overseas or within the United Kingdom in each of the past nine years; and, in each case, what was the name of the recipient, the nature of the gift and its approximate value.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: The information requested could not be provided within proportionate costs.

Official Travel: Carbon Emission Offsets

Lord Hanningfield: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Davies of Oldham on 13 July (WA 140), whether they will place a copy of the May edition of the Department for Transport's in-house magazine in the Library of the House.

Lord Davies of Oldham: I have today placed a copy of the May/June issue of a2b, the Department for Transport in-house magazine, in the Libraries of both Houses.

Olympic Games 2012: Grampian Conditions

Lord Clement-Jones: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the Olympic Delivery Authority will observe all the Grampian conditions (Section 106 commitments) originally imposed on the development of the Olympic site by the London Borough of Newham and other London boroughs.

Baroness Amos: The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) is committed to the timely delivery of the Olympic Games venues and infrastructure as part of the wider strategy to regenerate Stratford and the Lower Lea Valley. The planning permissions granted by the London Borough of Newham and other boroughs in 2004 in time for the successful Olympic bid were based on assumptions at the time of the bid. The master plan has since been revised and new planning permissions are therefore required. New planning applications will therefore be submitted in early 2007 and any new permissions will be made subject to the conditions and obligations appropriate for their implementation.

Olympic Games 2012: Grampian Conditions

Lord Clement-Jones: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the Olympic Delivery Authority has made an assessment of the cost of observing all the Grampian conditions (Section 106 commitments) originally imposed on the development of the Olympic site by the London Borough of Newham and other London boroughs; and, if so, whether these estimates have been included in the publicly projected costs of the 2012 Games.

Baroness Amos: The master plan has been revised and new planning permissions are required. New applications will be established when those conditions are known and featured accordingly in the estimates of costs which we expect to be produced within the next three to six months.

Opium

Lord Swinfen: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	From where the United Kingdom pharmaceutical industry obtains poppy seeds to produce medication from opium derivatives.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: No information is held about the origin of poppy seeds. The seeds, which contain no narcotic substance, are not controlled either under domestic or international law.

Parades: Northern Ireland

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What action they are taking against those persons who stopped a lawful Orange parade in Maghera on 12 July 2006.

Lord Rooker: PSNI has advised me that there is an ongoing investigation into this matter and I am unable to provide any further information at this time.

Parliamentary Ombudsman

Lord Morris of Manchester: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	On how many occasions, on what dates and on what issues the findings of an investigation by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration have been rejected by Ministers.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: Individual departments are responsible for taking forward the Parliamentary Ombudsman's recommendations.
	In response to Parliamentary Questions from the noble Lord, Lord Lester, earlier this year departments have provided details on the occasions when they have not accepted the Parliamentary Ombudsman's recommendations. However, for ease of reference I have written to the noble Lord providing him with the information provided by departments. A copy of this letter has been placed in the Library for the reference of noble Lords.

Passports

Lord Marlesford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many British passports have been reported lost or stolen in the past five years; and in how many cases the passport holder has previously reported the loss or theft of a passport.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The Identity and Passport Service processed the following reports of (a) loss, (b) theft and (c) other, of a passport in each of the past five calendar years:
	2001 - 148,230 combined total
	2002 - 166,358 combined total
	2003 - 184,301 combined total
	2004 - 275,040 Lost 212,745 Stolen 50,737 Other* 11,558
	2005 - 286,988 Lost 230,011 Stolen 45,709 Other* 11,268
	Current figures for 2006:
	2006 - 165,495 Lost 136,765 Stolen 22,133 Other* 6,597
	IPS does not routinely collate the information in relation to "how many cases the passport holder has previously reported the loss or theft of a passport".* "Other" includes passports reported as damaged or destroyed.

Pensions

Lord Varley: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the Registered Pension Schemes (Modification of the Rules of Existing Schemes) Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/364) prevent occupational pensions secured by the purchase of a contracted annuity before 6 April 2006 from being paid in full; and, if so, what the consequences are for the revenue received by the Exchequer; and
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord McKenzie of Luton on 26 June (WA 130), what is the purpose of the Registered Pension Schemes (Modification of the Rules of Existing Schemes) Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/364), given that the "old limits" of HM Revenue and Customs ceased to be a tax requirement from 6 April; and
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord McKenzie of Luton on 26 June (WA 130), whether HM Revenue and Customs monitors the newlimits set by the Registered Pension Schemes (Modification of the Rules of Existing Schemes) Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/364); what criteria they use to monitor these limits; and how long they intend these regulations to remain in force.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: Prior to 6 April 2006 ("A day") tax limits applied to the pensions that could be paid by occupational pension schemes that were approved by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs and from annuity contracts purchased by such pension schemes. Many pension schemes incorporated these tax limits into their rules and similarly many annuity contracts reflected the limits in their contract terms, but others simply relied upon the fact that such tax limits were imposed upon them by the tax rules.
	From A day these tax limits on pensions have been removed. This meant that some occupational pension schemes that did not have the previous tax limits specifically written into their rules potentially no longer had an upper ceiling on their pensions and faced unexpected increases in pension liabilities. The Registered Pension Schemes (Modification of Rules of Existing Schemes) Regulations 2006 (the "modification regulations") continue to apply the previous pension limits to such schemes and to annuity contracts which were not in payment on 5 April 2006, from A day until 6 April 2011 or such later time as HMRC may prescribe through regulations. The effect of this is to ensure that members continue to receive the same level of pension. During this period the scheme trustees or the annuity provider may, at any time, amend the rules of the pension scheme or the terms of the annuity contract so that the regulations cease to apply.
	The modification regulations ensure that the A day changes do not unexpectedly increase some pension payments and ensure that some occupational schemes and annuity contracts continue to pay members the same level of pensions. Therefore it is not necessary to monitor the level of the restrictions set out in those regulations. The consequences for the revenue received by the Exchequer arising from the modification regulations will depend upon the extent to which pension schemes and annuity contracts choose to retain the old benefit limits rather than adopt the more generous limits available under the post-A day tax rules.

Pensions: Failed Company Schemes

Lord Morris of Manchester: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether, bearing in mind the views expressed in Parliament and outside, they will reconsider the rejection of the findings of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration on compensation for the victims of failed company pension schemes.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The Government published their response to the ombudsman's report in June 2006. Since then they have taken note of various views expressed on this issue, including the report of the Public Administration Select Committee. We will be responding to that report in due course.

Pensions: Uprating

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What will be the impact of the decision to link uprating of pensions to average earnings from 2012 on pensioners resident overseas who currently receive frozen pensions.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: We have no plans to change the state pension uprating policy in respect of pensioners living abroad.

People Trafficking

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Baroness Scotland of Asthal on 19 July (WA 192), whether the particular areas of concern to the United Kingdom about the Council of Europe convention against trafficking in human beings are shared by any of the member states that have ratified the convention.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: To date, 30 states have signed the convention, but only one (Moldova) has ratified it. In July last year, we issued a questionnaire seeking information about the methods of support in place in other European Union (EU) countries irrespective of whether the member state had signed the convention or not. The responses to that questionnaire are still being analysed for evidence on how the automatic granting of reflection periods and residence permits to those presenting as victims of trafficking are operating in other European transit or destination countries.

People Trafficking

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	When they will sign the European Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: The UK is currently considering whether to sign the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Human Trafficking. The Government are examining how the convention's approach could best be harmonised with effective immigration controls.

People Trafficking: Children

Lord Tope: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What is their current policy on tackling child trafficking in the United Kingdom.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The Government are determined to eradicate child trafficking and later this year will launch their UK Action Plan on Human Trafficking, which addresses the prevention of trafficking, law enforcement and prosecution of offenders and providing protection and assistance to victims. We set out our proposals during recent consultation with stakeholders and obtained more than 200 responses. We are currently considering these which will help inform our policy development on child trafficking.

People Trafficking: Children

Lord Tope: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What has been the total funding allocated specifically to operations targeting child trafficking in each year since 2000.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The total amount spent per year on operations targeted specifically at child trafficking since 2000 is not held centrally by the Government. However, Reflex, a multi-agency taskforce which co-ordinates the law enforcement response to human trafficking, is funded by the Home Office with £20 million a year, up to 2008. Out of this budget, several operations have been mounted to counter human trafficking in which children have been identified.
	Operation Paladin, a multi-agency effort specifically aimed at identifying trafficked children, started at Heathrow airport in October 2005. Teams of specialist social workers, based at five ports and asylum screening units, working jointly with police and immigration officers, are helping to identify the particular needs of unaccompanied asylum seeking children who may have been trafficked and develop plans to safeguard their welfare.
	Reflex has also funded Operation Pentameter, launched in February 2006, the first national co-ordinated police effort aimed at tackling human trafficking for sexual exploitation. Eighty-four victims were rescued, 12 of whom were minors. From the Government's consultations on their UK Action Plan on Human Trafficking, ACPO's proposal of setting up a UK Human Trafficking Centre will succeed Operation Pentameter. The centre will provide a more co-ordinated approach across all police forces in its aim to combat human trafficking.
	Funding is also supporting the Serious Organisation Crime Agency (SOCA), which is bringing a renewed focus on improving intelligence and targeting those organised crime groups involved in trafficking humans. Its affiliate, the Child Exploitation Online Protection Centre (CEOP), is playing a vital role in preventing child abuse on the internet.
	The Government's plan to launch a UK Action Plan on Human Trafficking later this year will focus on the Government's key aims of preventing trafficking, enforcement and prosecution of offenders and providing assistance to victims.

People Trafficking: Children

Lord Tope: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many people, including (a) civil servants; (b) law enforcement officers; and (c) other officials, have been employed (i) part-time, and (ii) full-time on operations targeting child trafficking across the United Kingdom in each year since 2000.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: Statistics for the numbers employed on operations targeting child trafficking are not held centrally. The deployment of government officials, police and immigration officers, children's social care and health workers is determined individually by government departments and by local service delivery agents.

People Trafficking: Children

Lord Tope: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What safeguards are currently in place to tackle child trafficking across (a) all ports; (b) all airports; and (c) all rail stations in the United Kingdom.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: Safeguards have been established to counter the trafficking of children at our main ports of entry. Specially trained teams of immigration officers have been established at 22 ports to deal with all cases of unaccompanied children and arrangements for round-the-clock referral to police and local authority children's services, where that is necessary. Additionally, teams of social workers are being specially established at five ports and asylum screening units, principally to help identify the particular needs of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children who may have been trafficked and to help develop plans to safeguard their welfare.
	Immigration staff now have specialist guidance to alert them to signs that may identify a child as being trafficked and to what steps to take. Steps have also been put in place to improve the recording and retention of data on children entering the country. It will include information about the person with whom a child will be travelling and, in cases in which the child is unaccompanied, their photograph and full details of the child's parent or guardian and sponsors in the UK will be recorded.

People Trafficking: Children

Lord Tope: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many unaccompanied minors have entered the United Kingdom in each year since 2000.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

People Trafficking: Children

Lord Tope: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What estimates they have made of the number of (a) children, and (b) unaccompanied minors being trafficked into the United Kingdom in each year since 2000.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: Data on the numbers of children and unaccompanied minors trafficked into the UK for each year since 2000 are not centrally recorded. To address this lack of data, the Government have commissioned the Child Exploitation Online Protection Centre (CEOP) to scope the scale and nature of child trafficking into the UK.

People Trafficking: Children

Lord Tope: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What records they keep of the number of unaccompanied minors being deported back to their country after being brought to the United Kingdom by child traffickers.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: Information relating to the number of unaccompanied minors deported back to their country after being trafficked into the United Kingdom is not currently recorded centrally and is therefore not available.

People Trafficking: Children

Lord Tope: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many people have been (a) charged, and (b) prosecuted for allegations of child trafficking in each year since 2000.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: While there is no specific offence of child trafficking, prosecutions involving child victims of human trafficking have been pursued under the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
	The most up-to-date information provided to the Home Office by the Crown Prosecution Service indicates that at least 12 defendants have been charged in three separate cases that involved female victims between the ages of 15 and 18. Of these, 10 were convicted and received lengthy sentences.

People Trafficking: Children

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many of those aged under 18 have been identified as victims of trafficking in each of the past five years; and what procedures they have in place to help trafficked children in the United Kingdom.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The Government have no centrally collated data on the number of children identified as victims of trafficking. The Home Office recognises there is an urgent need to improve its intelligence on this issue and for this reason has commissioned a scoping project in partnership with the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) to estimate the scale and nature of the problem including source countries. Children who have been identified as having been trafficked and who are considered to be at risk are looked after by local authorities under Section 20 of the Children Act 1989. The arrangements for trafficked children, as for other children in need in the UK, are matters for local authorities to decide based on careful analysis of the risks, needs and circumstances facing that particular child.

Philip Gould Associates

Lord Hanningfield: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether any payments have been made to Philip Gould Associates by the Home Office or any of its agencies in each of the past 10 years.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: No payments have been made to Philip Gould Associates by the Home Office or any of its agencies in each of the past 10 years.

Philip Gould Associates

Lord Hanningfield: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether any payments have been made to Philip Gould Associates by the Department of Health or any of its agencies in each of the last 10 years.

Lord Warner: The Department of Health records show that it has not made any payments to Philip Gould Associates and does not hold records of payments made by its agencies.

Philip Gould Associates

Lord Hanningfield: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether any payments have been made to Philip Gould Associates by the Department of Trade and Industry or any of its agencies in each of the past 10 years.

Lord Sainsbury of Turville: Central records indicate that the department has made no payments to Philip Gould Associates in any of the past 10 years. No payments have been made by the department's executive agencies to Philip Gould Associates in any of the past 10 years.

Planning: Reports

Lord Baker of Dorking: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What is the average time between the delivery of a planning inspector's report and a decision by the Secretary of State for Transport, excluding all reports of inquiries that exceed 14 days.

Baroness Amos: The information required to make this calculation can be found on DfT's website at http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_roads/documents/divisionhomepage/030417.hcsp. This lists all schemes on which decisions have been issued over the past two years, together with the inspector's reports on each scheme. The date of the inspector's report can be taken as the date of delivery to the department.

Playing Fields

Lord Pendry: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will publish the guidelines regulating the sale of school, local authority and private playing fields; and
	What consideration is given by the Department for Education and Skills to consent requests for the disposal of playing fields which are up to 0.2 hectares and used for team games.

Lord Adonis: The department's guidance 1017-2004, The Protection of School Playing Fields and Land for Academies, which was published in November 2004, sets out the main circumstances in which local authorities and governing bodies of schools need to seek the consent of the Secretary of State to dispose, or change the use, of school playing fields. The guidance also describes how the Secretary of State will assess all applications that involve the disposal, or change of use, of such land, whatever its size. Copies of the guidance can be downloaded from the department's website at www.teachernet.gov.uk/schoolslandandproperty.

Playing Fields

Lord Pendry: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many applications to dispose of playing fields were submitted to the Government's monitoring committee in each financial year since 1999-2000.

Lord Adonis: Since July 2001, all applications to dispose of school playing fields have been scrutinised by the independent School Playing Fields Advisory Panel. The panel was set up to advise the Secretary of State on the extent to which applications meet the published criteria. The panel comprises representatives from the National Playing Fields Association, the Central Council of Physical Recreation, Learning through Landscapes, the National Association of Head Teachers and the Local Government Association. So far, the panel has scrutinised 242 applications that involve the disposal of school playing fields. The number of applications considered by the panel in each financial year is: 2001-02, 51; 2002-03, 68; 2003-04, 33; 2005-06, 36; and 12 so far this financial year.

Playing Fields

Lord Pendry: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many (a) school playing fields; (b) local authority playing fields; and (c) college or higher education sports grounds there are in England; and what is the total acreage of each.

Lord Adonis: The information requested is not held centrally.

Playing Fields

Lord Pendry: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether applications for development on playing fields that are less than 0.4 hectares in size are referred to Sport England as a statutory consultee on the sale of playing fields.

Lord Davies of Oldham: Any development on playing fields measuring 0.4 hectares or over is subject to statutory consultation with Sport England. The Department for Communities and Local Government intends to extend this consultation requirement in relation to playing fields measuring 0.2 hectares or over and will include this proposal in a wider consultation exercise on statutory consultees in due course.

Playing Fields

Lord Pendry: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many sports grounds and school playing fields are listed on the active places register maintained by Sport England.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The active places database does not provide information in the format requested. Active places includes data about more than 50,000 sports facilities. These facilities include 29,467 playing field sites, of which 13,933 are listed as owned by an education establishment. These playing field sites include, respectively, 50,600 and 24,527 marked-out sports pitches.

Police: Community Support Officers

Lord Tope: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many police community support officers are currently deployed by each police force across the United Kingdom.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: Information on community support officer (CSO) numbers on 31 March 2006 was published on 26 July 2006 as part of the Home Office Statistical Bulletin, Police Service Strength, England and Wales (no.13/06) at www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs06/hosbl306.pdf . A table of CSO strength in each force is below. There is no statutory basis for community support officers outside England and Wales.
	
		
			 Community Support Officers — Strength 31 March 2006 
			 Govt. Office Region Police Force Strength31.3.06fte 
			 North East  296 
			  Cleveland 100 
			  Durham 67 
			  Northumbria 129 
			 North West  723 
			  Cheshire 75 
			  Cumbria 17 
			  Gtr Manchester 251 
			  Lancashire 184 
			  Merseyside 196 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber  674 
			  Humberside 20 
			  North Yorkshire 71 
			  South Yorkshire 121 
			  West Yorkshire 462 
			 East Midlands  408 
			  Derbyshire 42 
			  Leicestershire 136 
			  Lincolnshire 78 
			  Northamptonshire 40 
			  Nottinghamshire 112 
			 West Midlands  471 
			  Staffordshire 70 
			  Warwickshire 64 
			  West Mercia 85 
			  West Midlands 252 
			 Eastern  568 
			  Bedfordshire 41 
			  Cambridgeshire 101 
			  Essex 192 
			  Hertfordshire 139 
			  Norfolk 65 
			  Suffolk 30 
			 London  2326 
			  City of London 11 
			  Metropolitan Police 2315 
			 South East  640 
			  Hampshire 30 
			  Kent 97 
			  Surrey 126 
			  Sussex 257 
			  Thames Valley 130 
			 South West  265 
			  Avon & Somerset 130 
			  Devon & Cornwall 74 
			  Dorset 61 
			  Gloucestershire 72 
			  Wiltshire 57 
			 Wales  271 
			  Dyfed Powys 26 
			  Gwent 76 
			  North Wales 58 
			  South Wales 111 
			 England and Wales  6769 
			 Notes: Because of rounding, constituent parts may not necessarily sum to the totals.

Police: Community Support Officers

Lord Tope: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many police community support officers are currently deployed without full security vetting by each police force in the United Kingdom.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) has issued guidance applying the ACPO vetting policy to PCSOs on the same basis as for police officers. Information is not held centrally on the application of this policy.

Police: Northern Ireland

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Rooker on 5 July (WA 75) concerning the proposed Police Service of Northern Ireland College; whether it remains their intention to site the college near Cookstown.

Lord Rooker: The Government recognise the important role that training plays in the delivery of a policing service to the community and we are fully committed in supporting Patten's recommendation for a new police training college. This commitment has been demonstrated by the substantial funding of up to £90 million that the Government have earmarked for this project.
	The Northern Ireland Policing Board believes that this level of funding is insufficient and Paul Goggins recently met members to agree a way forward. Officials are working with PSNI and the board to consider how funding for the college can be progressed. One possibility is an alternative site and we have been exploring the viability of a number of MoD sites, including Lisanelly.

Police: Points System

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they intend to introduce in other parts of the United Kingdom proposals by the North Wales Police Authority to award points to members of the force for each arrest or stop and search carried out.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: There are no current proposals to introduce a points system in relation to the exercise of police powers.

Police: Reorganisation

Baroness Harris of Richmond: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What plans they have to reimburse policeforces who, in complying with the Government's police force mergers, have incurred financial cost.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: We are aware that police authorities may approach the Home Office to meet the additional costs they have incurred in preparing for mergers and we will consider any such approaches.

Police: Reorganisation

Lord Hanningfield: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What is the estimated total cost to date incurred by the Home Office on its plans for police mergers and reorganisation throughout England and Wales, including the cost of civil servant time.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: Between September 2005 and July 2006, the Home Office spent approximately £400,000 on staff costs—representing a team of permanent, temporary and seconded staff averaging 10 people during this period—and approximately £20,000 on legal costs. Expenditure on consultancy for assessing and refining police structures business cases is expected to be up to approximately £800,000. Other work has been undertaken as part of routine business, and the costs could not be identified separately.

Prisoners: Deportation

Lord Hylton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Baroness Scotland of Asthal on 26th June (WA 132), how many prisoners currently serving their sentences have been recommended for deportation by the relevant court.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The department does not currently collate information in the format requested and it could be produced in the format requested only at disproportionate cost. I have updated the House today on the progress which has been made on the eight priority action areas to improve our effectiveness in deporting foreign national prisoners, which the Secretary of State for the Home Department launched in his Statement of 23 May.

Prisoners: Foreign Nationals

Baroness Sharples: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the answer by the Lord Bassam of Brighton on 29 June (HL Deb, cols. 1318—20), why it is considered discourteous to provide information that is to be given as evidence to a Select Committee in the House of Commons in response to a Question for Oral Answer tabled in the House of Lords.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The director general of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate made a commitment to provide an update to the Home Affairs Select Committee (HASC) before the end of June with the best available information on the foreign national prisoners released without due consideration for deportation. It would not have been correct to pre-empt this update before the director general had fulfilled her commitment which was given to the HASC as early as was practically possible on29 June. The Home Secretary ensured that a copy of the director general's letter was placed in the Library of the House on the same day.

Prisoners: Gender Balance

Lord Tebbit: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they have made an assessment of the reasons for the imbalance in the numbers of men and women in prison; and, if so, whether there is any evidence of sexual discrimination in the judicial system.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The Government continue to monitor and publish criminal justice statistics by gender. Statistics on Women and the Criminal Justice System 2003 found that women are more likely than men to be discharged or given community sentences for indictable offences, and that women sentenced to custody receive shorter sentences than men. However, the women's prison population has more than doubled over the past 10 years, with one study suggesting that this is because the sentencing of women has become more severe (Hedderman, Why are women being sentenced to custody?, 2004).
	The Government have commissioned further work, which will provide better information on women and the judicial system, including the Courts Survey, which will examine key drivers behind sentencing decisions. The research will include analysis of how courts deal with female offenders, drawing any significant differences across groups. Preliminary findings are expected in summer 2007. The Government have also commissioned Baroness Jean Corston to look at the issues affecting women with particular vulnerabilities who are dealt with by the criminal justice system. Baroness Corston's report and recommendations are due in December 2006.

Prisoners: InnerChange Initiative

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the InnerChange initiative to rehabilitate prisoners in HM Prison Dartmoor was banned on the basis that it might offend minority religious groups and homosexuals; and
	How many prisoners participated in the InnerChange initiative at HM Prison Dartmoor; and what has been the impact on their behaviour; and
	Whether the InnerChange programme at HM Prison Dartmoor failed a Prison Service quality assurance process; if so, on what grounds; what are the principles underlying this process; and what would the programme have to contain to meet the required standards.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: The InnerChange programme was introduced as a pilot only. Under Prison Service Order 4350 (Effective Regimes Interventions), the Prison Service is required to review all programmes to ensure that they are of the appropriate quality and effectiveness and offer value for money. A multidisciplinary panel, which included the National Offender Management Service Chaplaincy, reviewed the programme and identified a range of concerns. The most significant were the poor quality of the manuals, which did not demonstrate a structured and coherent programme, a lack of consistency and clarity about the primary aims of the programme, a lack of understanding and appropriate sensitivity to the diversity agenda of the Prison Service, and an absence of protocols for the management of the mentor system, making it unsafe. The area manager considered the recommendation from the panel and decided to discontinue the programme. Forty-two prisoners have undertaken the course. No formal evaluation on the impact on behaviour has been possible given the small numbers involved.

Prisoners: Recidivism

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What is the incidence of recidivism among prisoners in closed English prisons.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: Information on reoffending among offenders serving custodial sentences is not provided by type of custodial institution. The most recent information on reoffending among adult offenders serving custodial sentences is available in Table A5 of Re-offending of adults: evidence from the 2002 cohort which is available online at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs05/hosb2505.pdf.

Prisoners: Release on Licence

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What recent guidance has been issued to the probation service in connection with the monitoring of offenders released on licence from prison.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: Probation circular 16/2005, issued in March 2005, sets out the guidance that the National Probation Directorate has issued in respect of the arrangements for release of offenders on licence. A copy of the circular is available from the Library. An offender manager (probation officer) is required to supervise every offender released from prison on licence, in accordance with standard and additional licence conditions prescribed in a statutory instrument and in accordance with national standards.
	The circular also sets out the process to be followed when offenders are in breach of their licence conditions under the Criminal Justice Act 2003. All prisoners serving a custodial sentence are released on licence and subject to supervision of the probation service. Such prisoners are subject to six standard licence conditions which require him to place himself under the supervision of his supervising officer; keep in touch as instructed; if required receive visits where he is living; reside only where approved; not travel outside the United Kingdom without prior permission; and behave well and not do anything which would undermine the purpose of supervision on licence, which is to protect the public and to secure his successful reintegration into the community.
	In the event that any such licence conditions are breached, the offender is liable to be recalled to prison on the recommendation of the probation officer, to protect the public and prevent any further reoffending. In April 2005, revised national standards were issued, setting out the minimum requirements for offender managers supervising offenders released on licence from prison. The requirements cover the timing of the initial contact with offenders and of the production of sentence plans, together with the frequency of contact with offenders and the time limit for enforcement action for any breach of licence conditions, according to offenders' assessed risk of harm. Offenders assessed as high or very high risk of harm will be seen more frequently.

Prisoners: Voting Rights

Lord Ramsbotham: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Statement by the Lord Falconer of Thoroton on 2 February (WS 26), what progress they have made regarding implementation of the public consultation on prisoners' voting rights; and when the associated consultation document will be published.

Baroness Ashton of Upholland: A specific date for publication of the paper has not yet been set. However, the Government are hopeful that the paper will be published shortly after the end of the Summer Recess.
	There are a number of potential options that could be pursued as a result of the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights judgment in the case of Hirst. The Government have been considering these carefully and will outline them in the consultation paper.

Prisons: Chief Inspector

Lord Ramsbotham: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the statement by the Baroness Scotland of Asthal on 5 June (HL Deb, col. 1106), on what written evidence they base their claim that the proposed Deputy Chief Inspector of Justice, Community Safety and Justice (Prisons) would have strengthened rather than reduced powers compared to the current powers of the Chief Inspector of Prisons.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: In relation to the functions currently discharged by the Chief Inspector of Prisons, the ability of the new Inspectorate of Justice and Community Safety and Custody and the powers of the person charged with fulfilling the statutory function of custodial inspection to undertake prisons inspections will be strengthened because Part 4 of the Police and Justice Bill provides:
	an explicit statutory power to enter premises and obtain information without restriction as to time; a remit to inspect the treatment and conditions of those in custody which has been widened to include custody areas at courts and police stations, and escort arrangements; the ability, as part of an inspectorate that will inspect the entire criminal justice system, to look beyond issues of treatment and conditions in custody at the offender management process as a whole, including in particular the interfaces between the different agencies involved.

Prisons: Concerted Indiscipline

Baroness Stern: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many acts of concerted indiscipline have taken place in prison establishments in each of the last six months.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: A concerted indiscipline incident involves two or more prisoners acting together to cause disruption to the prison regime. The following table contains the number of incidents of concerted indiscipline in prisons in England and Wales in the last six months up to 18 July 2006.
	
		
			 Date Concerted Indiscipline 
			 January 14 
			 February 6 
			 March 7 
			 April 7 
			 May 8 
			 June 12 
			 Total 54

Prisons: Condoms

Lord Tebbit: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Warner on 17 July (WA 166) concerning the availability of condoms in prison, what sexual activities prisoners are allowed to take part in.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: Sexual activity by prisoners is neither condoned nor encouraged by prisons as this would be inconsistent with the facts and purposes of custody, including the need to protect the vulnerable and to maintain good order and discipline. However, it is recognised that sex in prisons is a reality. Where condoms are provided it is to preserve individuals' health rather than to encourage sexual relationships.

Prisons: Deaths in Custody

Lord Ramsbotham: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Which named official is responsible and accountable for overseeing and monitoring the implementation of the recommendations of Mr Justice Keith's inquiry into the death of Zahid Mubarek.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: The chief executive of the National Offender Management Service is responsible for ensuring that the recommendations made by Lord Justice Keith are pursued in accordance with the Government's response, which was published on 29 August. The National Offender Management Service board will oversee and monitor implementation.

Prisons: Dietary Requirements

Lord Lucas: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether all prison catering services and shops provide a service to vegan prisoners equivalent to that provided to prisoners with no particular dietary requirements.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: All public sector prison menus include daily choices suitable for prisoners who wish to follow a vegan diet. Vegan products are available in all public sector prison shops and later in 2006 the range will be expanded. Information on behalf of contracted establishments is not routinely collected.

Prisons: Foreign Nationals

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many foreign national offenders have been released from secure hospitals in the past three years without being considered for deportation.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The information requested is not currently available. In my right honourable friend the Home Secretary's Written Ministerial Statement of 23 May 2006 (col. WS41), he explained that historically there have never been systematic arrangements in place for collecting information on the nationality of mentally disordered offenders, referring them to the Immigration and Nationality Directorate and considering them for deportation. He has tasked officials to construct arrangements for considering deportation where appropriate for people in this group, taking account of their very specific circumstances. In a Written Ministerial Statement of 19 July 2006 (col. WS98), my honourable friend the Minister of State for Immigration, Citizenship and Nationality (Liam Byrne) provided an update on the progress which has been made in dealing with the issue of mentally disordered offenders along with the other seven priority action areas in improving our overall effectiveness in deporting foreign national prisoners.

Prisons: Population

Lord Steinberg: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What was the total prison population in each of the past three years.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: The table gives the total prison population in England and Wales at 30 June in each year since 2004. These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system, and so is not necessarily accurate to the last whole number.
	
		
			 Prison Population in England and Wales, 30 June 2004-2006 
			 2004 74,448 
			 2005 76,190 
			 2006 77,982

Prisons: Witchcraft

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether it is permitted practice to display symbols associated with witchcraft in United Kingdom prisons.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: The prison services in England and Wales and Northern Ireland do not have a specific policy on the displaying of symbols associated with witchcraft and is at governors' discretion. Scottish prisons are the responsibility of the Scottish Executive, who should be approached separately.

Public Property

Lord Whitty: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What proportion of national capital assets were owned by the public sector, defined as central government, local government and nationalised industries and other publicly owned companies, in each of the years 1976, 1996, 2006 or years for which figures are available; and what they estimate the proportion will be at the end of the current comprehensive spending review.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: The information requested falls within the responsibilities of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from the National Statistician, Karen Dunnell, dated 14 September 2006.
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question concerning what proportion of national capital assets were owned by the public sector, defined as central government, local government and nationalised industries and other publicly owned companies, in each of the years 1976, 1996, 2006 or years for which figures are available; and what they estimate the proportion will be at the end of the current comprehensive spending review. (HL7340)
	The estimates below are calculated using estimates of net capital stock as published on 24 July 2006. Estimates of capital stock measure the value of fixed assets in existence. Net capital stock represents the value of these assets after depreciation is taken into account.
	The public sector is defined using National Accounts definitions and comprises central government, local government and public corporations.
	The annual ONS publication, Capital Stocks, Capital Consumption and Non-Financial Balance Sheets, can be found on the National Statistics website:
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=10730&Pos=&ColRank=1&Rank=272
	ONS does not produce National Accounts forecasts.
	
		
			 Net capital stock of public sector as a percentage of net capital stock for the whole economy 
			 Year Per cent 
			 1976 43% 
			 1996 22% 
			 2005 21%

Questions for Written Answer

Lord Jopling: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Why the Lord Marlesford's Questions for Written Answer tabled on 23 and 24 May (HL 5953 and HL 6000) remain unanswered after eight weeks, bearing in mind that Questions should be answered within two weeks; and whether reprimands will be issued to the officials concerned for the delay.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The questions concerned have been answered on 19 July (WA 186) and 25 July (WA 270) respectively.

Questions for Written Answer

Lord MacKenzie of Culkein: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether there is an obligation on officers of health authorities or NHS trusts to reply where a Question for Written Answer has been referred to them by a Minister.

Lord Warner: When the Department of Health cannot provide the information requested by a Member or Peer, the matter may be referred to the relevant NHS organisation concerned to provide a full response. The expectation is that this would be provided as promptly as possible. If my noble friend is aware of a specific problem then I will be happy to look into this on receipt of further information.

Questions for Written Answer

Lord Jopling: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Baroness Scotland of Asthal on 28 July (HL7082), which did not address the questions put by the Lord Jopling, whether the Answer was in accordance with the appropriate Code of Conduct for Ministers.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: My reply to the noble Lord was both accurate and truthful and sought to answer the fundamental concern that had been raised regarding the failure to reply to previously tabled Parliamentary Questions. As such, it was in accordance with the requirements of the Ministerial Code.

RAF: Coltishall Airbase

Lord Garden: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What measures they are taking to preserve historic aspects of RAF Coltishall as a key Battle of Britain fighter base.

Lord Drayson: The Ministry of Defence's commitment to the responsible stewardship of its historic environment was set out in the defence estate strategy In Trust and on Trust in 2000 and developed in A Strategic Statement for Heritage (December 2005) and The Historic Environment Strategy for the Defence Estate (April 2006).
	At RAF Coltishall, this department is working with English Nature to provide a lasting textual, photographic and video record of the base for the future. Our aim is to keep as much Coltishall memorabilia as possible in Norfolk and on display to the public. Accordingly, general items will be transferred to the new Coltishall Association and feature in a specific Coltishall display at the Radar Museum at Neatishead. This opened to the public on 9 September this year. The Battle of Britain Lace has been loaned to Norwich Cathedral and can be seen in the north transept.

Railways: Central Trains Franchise

Lord Bradshaw: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will take steps to ensure that the West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive is fully involved in drawing up the specification for the refranchising of Central Trains.

Baroness Amos: The West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive (PTE) has been closely involved in drawing up the specification for the re-franchising of Central Trains and the Government expect this to continue. Officials of the PTE and the Department for Transport (DfT) have been meeting on a regular basis to discuss franchise specification issues since details of the new franchises which will replace Central Trains were announced in October 2005. This has enabled the PTE to submit valuable and detailed responses to the recent DfT consultations on the proposed franchise specifications. The DfT is currently considering the issues raised by all respondents and expects to announce the results of the consultations in Autumn 2006.

Railways: Closures

Lord Faulkner of Worcester: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether any railway lines or stations in the United Kingdom are being considered for closure.

Baroness Amos: The only two proposals which are currently under consideration both form parts of wider rail development schemes which will provide significantly improved services to the areas concerned. One relates to the closure of the North London Line east of Stratford, to facilitate its transfer to the Docklands Light Railway, and the other to the realignment of the north-south route under central London as part of the Thameslink upgrade.

Railways: Infrastructure

Lord Bradshaw: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether, in considering the future of Network Rail, they will provide incentives to Network Rail to make the infrastructure available for more trains or longer periods of operation.

Lord Davies of Oldham: Network Rail is already required to compensate train operators for disruption caused by its engineering operations. The company is also guaranteed extra income in the future if it accommodates traffic growth beyond a specified level. The Government's high level output specification will require Network Rail to deliver further capacity increases and, as part of its periodic review 2008, the Office of Rail Regulation is considering stronger incentives to encourage the company to meet additional growth in demand.

Railways: North-South High-Speed Link

Lord Faulkner of Worcester: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	When they expect to publish their response to proposals for a new north-south high-speed railway linking England and Scotland.

Baroness Amos: The Government made a manifesto commitment to look at the feasibility and affordability of a new north-south high-speed link. They have since committed to take this forward in the development of a long-term strategy for the railways, drawing on Sir Rod Eddington's advice on the long-term impact of transport decisions on the UK's productivity, stability and growth. Our conclusions will contribute to the long-term strategy for the railways to be published in summer 2007.

Railways: Usage

Lord Faulkner of Worcester: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	By how much rail patronage has increased over the past five years on (a) the regional network; (b) Passenger Transport Executive services; and (c) community rail lines.

Baroness Amos: Figures are not kept in the form requested. However, rail patronage figures are published by the Office of Rail Regulation, in the National Rail Trends Yearbook, which includes figures by train operating company and sector. The yearbook is available on the ORR website under "rail statistics" at www.rail-reg.gov.uk.

Rally Ireland

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Which firms tendered for the public relations activity surrounding Rally Ireland in 2005 and 2006, which was sponsored by the Northern Ireland Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure; which firm was successful; and how much it was paid.

Lord Rooker: Three firms tendered quotes to Rally Ireland for public relations activity surrounding its 2005 event. Heneghan PR and Pinc Communications were successful with their tenders. The identity of the unsuccessful tendering firm cannot be released in accordance with relevant information access legislation.
	With regard to the 2005 event, the Northern Ireland Events Company (NIEC) has, so far, paid to Rally Ireland £6,841.43 plus VAT in respect of the Heneghan PR contract and £2,052.29 plus VAT in respect of the Pinc Communications contract. The successful firms in the tendering process for 2005 were re-engaged in 2006. With regard to the 2006 event, the Northern Ireland Events Company (NIEC) has, so far, paid to Rally Ireland £12,834.04 plus VAT in respect of the Pinc Communications contract.

Rally Ireland

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether legal action is being taken against the Northern Ireland Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure or its agencies concerning sponsorship of Rally Ireland.

Lord Rooker: No legal action is being taken against the Northern Ireland Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure or its agencies concerning the sponsorship of Rally Ireland.

Rally Ireland

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How much public funding (a) Rally Ireland, and (b) the North West 200 received for their respective events in 2006.

Lord Rooker: Rally Ireland has, to date, received £399,427.27 public funding for its 2006 event. The North West 200 made an application to be included in the International Fund for Ireland (IFI) Business Support Scheme, which is jointly funded by IFI and public funding from the Northern Ireland Events Company and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board. The value of support given the NW200 under this scheme for its 2006 event was £145,687.

Rally Ireland

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What are the details of the €6,480 Rally Ireland accommodation expenses for the event in 2006 which was sponsored by public funds.

Lord Rooker: Details of expenses for the Rally Ireland 2006 event remain to be finalised. However, Rally Ireland has been accredited World Rally Championship status in the 2007 calendar and this will bring significant economic and social benefits to Northern Ireland, due in part to the success of the 2006 event and the support provided by public funds.

Rally Ireland

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Why the Clerk of the Course for Rally Ireland 2006 was paid €42,000; what the tasks of his job were; and how he was selected.

Lord Rooker: Details of expenses for the Rally Ireland 2006 event remain to be finalised. However, Rally Ireland has been accredited World Rally Championship status in the 2007 calendar and this will bring significant economic and social benefits to Northern Ireland, due in part to the success of the 2006 event.

Rally Ireland

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	For Rally Ireland 2006, what was the cost of and activity undertaken by— (a) ambulances; (b) rescue units; (c) fire tenders; (d) doctors; and (e) the police.

Lord Rooker: Details of expenses for the Rally Ireland 2006 event remain to be finalised. However, Rally Ireland has been accredited World Rally Championship status in the 2007 calendar and this will bring significant economic and social benefits to Northern Ireland, due in part to the success of the 2006 event.

Rally Ireland

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What is meant by entry sponsorship on which €250,000 was spent for Rally Ireland 2006; and what progress of verification they used before paying this money.

Lord Rooker: Details of expenses for the Rally Ireland 2006 event remain to be finalised. However, Rally Ireland has been accredited World Rally Championship status in the 2007 calendar and this will bring significant economic and social benefits to Northern Ireland, due in part to the success of the 2006 event.

Rally Ireland

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	On what the €10,000 was spent under the heading marshals tents and the €8,000 spent under toilet facilities in the event expenditure for Rally Ireland 2006; whether the appropriate tendering procedures were used; whether equipment was purchased and, if so, who owns it now; and where the equipment is located.

Lord Rooker: Details of expenses for the Rally Ireland 2006 event remain to be finalised. However, Rally Ireland has been accredited World Rally Championship status in the 2007 calendar and this will bring significant economic and social benefits to Northern Ireland, due in part to the success of the 2006 event.

Rally Ireland

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What was involved in the €20,000 spent on road closures in the event expenditure for Rally Ireland 2006; to whom the funding was issued; and for what purpose.

Lord Rooker: Details of expenses for the Rally Ireland 2006 event remain to be finalised. However, Rally Ireland has been accredited World Rally Championship status in the 2007 calendar and this will bring significant economic and social benefits to Northern Ireland, due in part to the success of the 2006 event.

Restorative Justice: Northern Ireland

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answers by the Lord Rooker on 9 March (WA 168) and 17 May (WA 49), whether they are aware of any sexual assault on young girls by members of Community Restorative Justice; and whether the Police Service of Northern Ireland have any knowledge of such an incident.

Lord Rooker: Recordable data on all criminal offences do not include information on organisations with which the offender may be connected.

Roads: A1 Northern Ireland

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many fatalities and serious injuries there have been on the A1 in Northern Ireland between Sprucefield and the border with the Republic of Ireland in the periods (a) 1 April 2005 to 31 March 2006; (b) 1 April 2004 to 31 March 2005; and (c) 1996 to 2001.

Lord Rooker: The information requested is provided in the table below:
	
		
			  Killed Seriously Injured 
			 2005-06 5 12 
			 2004-05 9 12

Roads: A27

Lord Baker of Dorking: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	When they received the inspector's report into the proposal for a fly-over at the level crossing on the A27 at Beddingham; and when they expect to make a decision.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The inspector's report on the A27 trunk road Southerham to Beddingham improvement scheme, which provides for the replacement of the level crossing at Beddingham by a bridge over the Lewes to Eastbourne railway line, was received on 1 March 2006. The Secretary of State for Transport and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government announced their joint decision on Wednesday 9 August 2006.

Roads: A27

Lord Baker of Dorking: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What was the reason for the delay of six months in the approval of the inspector's report on the A27 trunk road Southerham to Beddingham improvement, bearing in mind that the inspector concluded that there was a compelling case for the scheme to be implemented.

Baroness Amos: The local inquiry sat for 12 days between 6 September 2005 and 4 November 2005. The inspector's report was received on 1 March 2006 and the decision of the Secretary of State for Transport and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government jointly, was made on 8 August 2006.
	The decision on the inspector's report was delayed because of the need for the Highways Agency to carry out a detailed investigation into the reasons for the substantial increase in the estimated cost of delivering this scheme since the close of the inquiry and whether it still represented good value for money.

Roads: Cyclists

Lord Howarth of Newport: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the answer by the Lord Davies of Oldham on 27 April (HL Deb, col. 256), when they will report their findings on the registration of cyclists; and what methodology they are using in their examination of this issue.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 provides for the registration of mechanically propelled vehicles so it would not be possible to register bicycles or cyclists under that Act. To enable the Government to administer the registration of cyclists, changes in legislation would have to be considered along with extensive changes to computer systems.
	There are more than 20 million bicycles in Great Britain—many of which change owners frequently—and one in three adults owns a bicycle. To register them would entail the establishment of a system parallel to that presently existing for motor vehicles.
	The cost of such a system would, in the Department for Transport's view, outweigh any possible benefits and so we do not propose to take this idea forward.

Schools: Closures

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What role the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools has in the future of Saint Joseph's High School, Plumbridge, County Tyrone; and who takes the decision in the event that the school is to be closed.

Lord Rooker: The Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS) has acted in its statutory role as an advisory body to the trustees of St Joseph's High School, Plumbridge. This is a role that CCMS performs for all Catholic maintained schools. At the request of CCMS and on behalf of the school trustees, the Western Education and Library Board (WELB) published Development Proposal No. 186 on 27 April 2006, proposing closure of St Joseph's High School from 1 September 2007 or as soon as possible thereafter. My honourable friend Maria Eagle, the Minister with responsibility for education, takes the decision on the development proposal in light of all the information provided, and a decision to close the school was made on 22 September 2006.

Schools: Jameah Islamiyah Secondary School

Lord Baker of Dorking: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	When they received the inspector's report on the Jameah Islamiyah secondary school; and
	What action they have taken following the inspector's report on the Jameah Islamiyah school.

Lord Adonis: The information requested is provided in the department's Press Notice 2006/0126. Copies have been placed in the Libraries. The school's inspection report was received by the department on 25 January 2006.

Schools: Jameah Islamiyah Secondary School

Lord Baker of Dorking: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they have asked the Charity Commission to examine the activities of the Jameah Islamiyah School.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: Her Majesty's Government have not asked the Charity Commission to examine the activities of the Jameah Islamiyah School. As the non-ministerial government department responsible for the regulation of charities in England and Wales, the Charity Commission decides independently whether to investigate charities. The Executive Director, Legal and Charity Services will write to the noble Lord and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Library for the reference of noble Lords.

Schools: North Tyneside

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many times Section 7 of the Education Act 1996 has been used by North Tyneside local education authority to prosecute people in the past five years.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: We do not collect prosecutions data under the Education Act 1996 by local education authority. However, data from the court proceedings database (held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform) for the Tyneside Local Justice Area show the number of prosecutions under the Education Act 1996 as: four in 2000, six in 2001, 36 in 2002, 17 in 2003 and 10 in 2004. There were no prosecutions recorded specifically under Sections 444(1) or 444(1A) of the Act though we consider the figures provided may include offences under Section 444. Prosecutions for truancy related to Section 7 are brought under Section 444 of the Education Act 1996. Court proceedings data for 2005 will be available in Autumn 2006.

Schools: Northern Ireland

Lord Hylton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they expect the number of unfilled school places in Northern Ireland to change significantly at the beginning of the autumn term 2006.

Lord Rooker: The actual number of pupils enrolling in schools in 2006-07 will not be available until after the annual October census data have been gathered and verified. The latest pupil projections produced by the Department of Education indicate that the number of pupils is expected to show a reduction by around 5,600 between this school year and the next. This change would not necessarily lead to a corresponding increase in surplus places, which are also affected by changes in the schools' estate in the intervening period through the school building programme and rationalisations.

Schools: Northern Ireland

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Rooker on 5 July (WA 78) concerning the Western Education and Library Board in Northern Ireland, when Maguiresbridge Primary School became a maintained school; and when the new school building was available for use.

Lord Rooker: As stated in my Written Answer on 6 July (Official Report, col. WA 78), Maguiresbridge Primary is a controlled school. The new school building was available for use in December 2005. Unfortunately due to a formatting error this was not immediately clear in the original signed copy of the Answer that was given to the noble Lord.

Schools: Northern Ireland

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the Minister in charge of education in Northern Ireland has met a delegation representing St Joseph's High School in Plumbridge or visited the school; and, if not, whether she will visit the school before a decision is made about its future.

Lord Rooker: The Minister in charge of education, Maria Eagle, has not received a request to meet a delegation representing the school or to visit the school. The two-month consultation period following the publication of the development proposal ended on 28 June 2006, and a decision on the development proposal will be made as soon as possible. There are no plans to visit the school.

Schools: Sport

Lord Steinberg: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What plans they have to promote cross-country running as part of the sports syllabus in schools.

Lord Adonis: The Government are committed to increasing the amount of physical education (PE) and sport in schools and are investing over £1.5 billion in the five years to 2008 to deliver the National School Sport Strategy. Cross-country is offered in schools as part of athletic activities within national curriculum for PE. The programme of study for PE does not prescribe which specific sports must be offered. This is a matter for schools to determine. The 2004-05 school sport survey found that 91 per cent of the 11,400 schools taking part in the survey offered pupils athletics (which can and often does include cross-country). A copy of the survey report has been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Security: Public Sector Vetting Procedures

Lord Tope: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many (a) central government staff; (b) local government staff; (c) police officers; and (d) parliamentary staff have been re-vetted by the security services since September 2001, broken down by ethnic origin.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: Individual government organisations are responsible for carrying out national security vetting and for granting clearances when the necessary criteria are met. Information is not collected centrally on numbers in each of the categories specified or by ethnic origin for the period in question.

Sewage

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What consultations the fisheries division of the Northern Ireland Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure engages in before sewage dumping takes place; who else is involved in consultation; and what measures they propose to protect the environment from leaching as a result of the dumping of sewage sludge.

Lord Rooker: The Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure does not have responsibility for the disposal of sewage. The Environment and Heritage Service is the licensing body. EHS consults those whom it deems necessary on a case-by-case basis depending on the nature of the waste and activity proposed. Before a licence is granted for the spreading of sewage sludge, applicants must demonstrate that such work will result in benefit to agriculture and/or ecological improvement and will not cause excess concentration of certain listed substances in the soil.

Sewage

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	When the licensing of the dumping of sewage sludge was introduced in Northern Ireland; where the licensed sites are located; whether the licensing includes injection into the ground; and what agreement exists between those licensed to dump sewage sludge and the Forest Service regarding the use of Forest Service land.

Lord Rooker: The Environment and Heritage Service (EHS) has been responsible for waste management licensing, through which the application of sewage sludge is controlled, since the introduction in December 2003 of the Waste Management Licensing Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003.
	Ten sites in Northern Ireland have been registered as exempt for the purposes of land-spreading sewage sludges: Altarichard Plantation, Magherahoney, Ballymoney; two sites on the Culmore Road, Londonderry; three separate locations within the Baronscourt Woodlands, Duke of Abercorn's estate, County Tyrone; Curleyhill Road, Strabane; Corthill Farm, Backhill Road, Eglinton; Cortree Road, Drumahoe; and Spallan Road, Limavady.
	All sewage sludge is injected into the ground. All current exemptions for the spreading of sewage sludge are on private property. Sewage sludge is not dumped on any Forest Service land.

Sewage

Baroness Ludford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether, since 2000, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has obtained or received a legal opinion concerning the discharge of raw sewage into the River Thames and compliance with the European Union Urban Waste Water Directive; and whether they will place a copy of any such opinion in the Library of the House.

Lord Rooker: Disclosure of information about whether legal advice has been obtained and, if so, what that advice is, would adversely affect the confidentiality of proceedings of government and the course of justice. This is because the request relates to the obtaining and (if obtained) substance of confidential legal advice, and the matter at issue—discharge of sewage to the River Thames and compliance with the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive—is subject to open infraction proceedings.
	We consider that in the circumstances, the public interest in allowing the department to consult lawyers in confidence is great, and outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information requested.

Sex Offenders

Lord Hylton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What use they have made of the information provided by ECPAT UK (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and the Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes) concerning the cases of 90 British individuals charged with abuse in foreign countries; and what is their assessment of the likelihood that this information will lead to convictions.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: From time to time, ECPAT UK has forwarded to the Home Office information, such as newspaper articles from publications overseas, which has helped to illustrate the scale and nature of sexual offending against children overseas by British tourists. That information is shared with the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP). CEOP does assist in the training of police officers overseas but the guilt or innocence of the suspects referred to in the articles is a matter for the courts in those countries. In addition, the FCO will inform CEOP of the arrest for serious crimes of British nationals abroad, including all sexual offences committed against children. Where the police here are aware that an individual has returned to the United Kingdom following a conviction or caution for a sexual offence overseas they are advised to apply for a notification order, which will make the returnee subject to the notification requirements of Part 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (commonly known as the sex offenders register).

Sex Offenders

Lord Hylton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Why the National Framework to Safeguard Children from Commercial Sexual Exploitation has not been updated since 2001; and when they intend to update it.

Lord Adonis: In 2002, the department published an update and work programme which represented a revised National Plan for Safeguarding Children from Commercial Exploitation. This issue remains a priority for Government, and we have taken forward a number of initiatives, including the creation of new offences in relation to sexual exploitation in the Sexual Offences Act 2003; the publication of a toolkit to help professionals tackle trafficking; the 2004 review of prostitution which resulted in the publication in January this year of a new co-ordinated prostitution strategy, one of the key objectives of which is the reduction of all forms of commercial sexual exploitation; the establishment in April of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre; publication of the new Working Together to Safeguard Children in April 2006, the main inter-agency guide to working together to safeguard and promote the welfare of children; and the establishment by April 2006 of Local Safeguarding Children Boards, which have a role in co-ordinating work to safeguard children from sexual exploitation in each local area. Our priority is to take forward the practical implementation of the policy changes outlined above.

Sex Offenders

Lord Hylton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What conclusions have been reached so far by the multi-agency group facilitated by the Home Office on sex tourism issues; whether its recommendations are being implemented; and whether the Department for International Development is involved.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: A multi-agency group was hosted by the Home Office to prepare for the introduction of foreign travel orders, civil orders which can be obtained to prevent the travel of those who pose a risk of serious sexual harm to a child or children overseas. After the introduction of those orders on 1 May 2004 the group—which included a representative from the Department for International Development—met periodically to discuss the wider issue of travelling sex offenders but it added little to work aimed at safeguarding children and was disbanded. The Home Office has, however, continued to work with others to ensure that children, wherever they may be in the world, are protected from sex offenders. A review of our policy and legislation towards travelling sex offenders was conducted earlier this year. That review sought the views of other government departments, law enforcement agencies and non-governement organisations such as ECPAT and we will be announcing our findings later in the year.

Smoking: London Underground

Lord Faulkner of Worcester: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the level of compliance with the ban on smoking at London Underground's above ground railway stations is satisfactory.

Baroness Amos: The no smoking ban is an operational matter for London Underground, which advises that it is satisfied with the level of compliance on its above ground stations.

Smoking: Sport Stadiums

Lord Faulkner of Worcester: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many stadia covered by the licensing provisions of the Safety at Sports Grounds Act 1975 have already introduced comprehensive bans on smoking, or intend to do so within the next 12 months.

Baroness Amos: The Safety at Sports Grounds Act 1975 requires sports grounds designated under the Act to hold a general safety certificate. There is no centrally held information identifying the numbers of stadia covered by the 1975 Act which have introduced smoking bans or intend doing so in the next 12 months. A sports ground safety certificate will include conditions designed to ensure spectator safety at that ground. Such conditions are determined by the relevant certifying local authority following consultation with a number of expert organisations including local police and fire authorities.

Speech Therapists

Baroness Walmsley: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many speech and language therapists have been employed in England in each of the past five years, broken down by local education authority.

Lord Warner: This information is not collected centrally. The annual National Health Service workforce census records the number of speech and language therapists by primary care trust and NHS trust. A table showing the number of speech and language therapists by PCT and trust in each of the past five years has been placed in the Library.

Taxation: Tax Evasion Hotline

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	In relation to the direct taxes hotline and advertising campaign announced by HM Revenue and Customs on 28 February—(a) what is the total gross cost to date of the hotline and website; (b) what is the estimated additional tax revenue; (c) how many individuals have called the hotline; (d) how many suspected tax evaders have been reported to the website; (e) how many inquiries and full investigations have been initiated as a result of information received through the hotline and website; (f) how many people have been prosecuted as a result of information received through the hotline and website; and (g) when the costs and benefits of the hotline will be reviewed.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is committed to targeting tax evasion. Its tax evasion hotline was opened on 17 October 2005 taking calls on 0800 788 887 from 8 am to 8 pm Monday to Friday, and 8 am to 4 pm Saturday and Sunday, as well as receiving information through a variety of other means including a dedicated website, Freepost, Freefax and Textphone. HMRC also operates the Customs Confidential Helpline (0800 59 5000) to receive information about smuggling or any other suspicious activity.
	From its launch to 31 August 2006, the tax evasion hotline received approximately 97,000 reports, including 87,047 calls from the public, around 3,000 letters and faxes, 5,200 e-mails and 1,900 referrals from Customs Confidential. Until inquiries have been completed, it is not possible to identify how many of these reports may relate to the same individuals, nor how many may have been received both in writing and by telephone, nor how many relate to tax evaders.
	The tax evasion hotline has been developed as part of a package of new compliance measures for the then Inland Revenue announced in Budget 2004 (HC 301), along with the amount of funding and forecast additional revenues. HMRC reports progress on these measures in its annual and spring reports. HMRC also plans to publish a report on the costs and benefits of the tax evasion hotline in the future. The further detailed information requested is not currently available.
	The number of full investigations that have been initiated and the number of prosecutions undertaken cannot be disclosed because of the operational sensitivity of information about this law enforcement activity.

Terrorism: Proscribed Organisations

Lord Hylton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will provide evidence of the advocacy of violence or crime in the case of each organisation to which the Terrorism Act 2000 (Proscribed Organisations) (Amendment) Order 2006 applies.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: An explanatory memorandum supporting the Terrorism Act 2000 (Proscribed Organisations) (Amendment) Order 2006 was laid on 17 July.

Terrorism: Suicide Bombing

Lord Hylton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they have studied the conclusions on suicide bombing by Professor R Pape of the University of Chicago in Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The Government are aware of the work of Professor Pape. Academic work on terrorism is also one source of information for the work of the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC), which was created by the Government in 2003 as the UK's centre for the analysis and assessment of international terrorism.

Transport: Buses

Lord Bradshaw: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	When they expect to make their decision on the appeals lodged by bus operators about the new free concessionary fares arrangements introduced on 1 April.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The Secretary of State will determine the appeals in due course.

Transport: Buses

Lord Bradshaw: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What is their assessment of the likely impact of recent competitive developments regarding bus services in King's Lynn on the long-term interests of passengers.

Baroness Amos: The Government have made no assessment of the services available in King's Lynn. As the noble Lord is aware, local bus services, in the majority of cases, are provided by commercial operators. On-road competition between services can lead to a better standard of service for all, both in the short and longer term. Any questions of anti-competitive practices by operators are a matter for the Office of Fair Trading.

Transport: Buses

Lord Bradshaw: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they have made an assessment of the adequacy of incentives to encourage persons under 21 to use bus services.

Baroness Amos: None. Many bus operators offer reduced fares for young people and local authorities can offer concessionary bus travel to any individual or group. There are no plans at present to offer additional incentives.

Transport: Road and Rail

Lord Faulkner of Worcester: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What incentives they plan to put in place to encourage the transfer of passengers and freight from road to rail.

Baroness Amos: The department does not have an explicit target for modal shift from road to heavy rail. However, rail is well placed to help deliver a range of wider departmental targets and objectives including those relating to tackling congestion on the road network, and reducing the impact of transport on the environment.
	Next summer the Government will set out their plans for rail capacity and funding in their high level output specification and associated long-term rail strategy. These will build on the policies—such as the freight grant schemes—that in the past 10 years have seen the number of passengers using the railway grow by 35 per cent, freight increase 46 per cent and rail improve its overall modal share.

Transport: Satellite Navigation Devices

Lord Bradshaw: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they are taking steps to prevent the sale of satellite navigation devices which direct heavy goods vehicles on to roads where such vehicles are prohibited.

Baroness Amos: No. It is for drivers of all classes of vehicle to take responsibility for ensuring that they do not follow navigation advice—electronic or otherwise—which would cause them to contravene the law.

Travellers: Housing Benefit

Lord Avebury: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answers by the Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 18 May (WA 68) and 3 July (WA 24-25), whether, having received the report in question in draft in December 2005, they will publish it before the House rises for the Summer Recess; and whether they will place a copy on the Department for Work and Pensions' website.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The report is expected to be published in September. We have a requirement to ensure that our research findings are widely disseminated and, as with all our published reports, a copy of the report will be placed on the department's website.

Tuna

Lord Ashcroft: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What action they are taking to investigate the allegations of Japan's illegal catches of southern bluefin tuna, which is listed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources as critically endangered.

Lord Rooker: The issue is being investigated by the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT). The United Kingdom is not a member of the CCSBT. However, we are actively involved in a global initiative to fight illegal fishing through work on the High Seas Task Force on Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported Fishing, which was chaired by my honourable friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Mr Ben Bradshaw). Other partners in the task force are members of the CCSBT.

Turkey: Anti-terrorism Laws

Lord Patten: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they have made representations to the Government of Turkey in respect of their recently amended anti-terrorism law that denies suspects access to their lawyers for the first 24 hours of detention.

Lord Triesman: Amendments to the Turkish anti-terror law were passed by Parliament on 29 June. Article 9b of this amendment package allows for a terrorism suspect's right of access to a lawyer to be delayed by 24 hours with a court order. However, no statement may be taken during this period. Similar provisions exist in the law of several EU member states. We have not raised concerns over this article with the Turkish Government.

Turkey: Freedom of Speech

Lord Patten: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they have made representations to the Government of Turkey concerning over 40 journalists who are reported to be facing prosecution under Article 301 of Turkey's penal code.

Lord Triesman: The Government have repeatedly raised concerns with the Turkish Government regarding individuals in Turkey facing prosecution under Article 301 for the non-violent expression of opinion. Turkey's human rights record will continue to be closely scrutinised during the accession process and the EU has said that, "if the Turkish Penal Code continues to be interpreted in a restrictive manner, then it may need to be amended in order to safeguard freedom of expression in Turkey". We will continue to monitor the application of Article 301 of the Turkish penal code.

Turkey: Freedom of Speech

Lord Patten: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether, in the past 12 months, they have made representations to the Government of Turkey on the issue of free speech.

Lord Triesman: We have raised our concerns on a number of occasions in the past year with the Turkish Government on the issue of free speech, including the well known cases brought against Orhan Pamuk, Hrant Dink and Perihan Magden. I recently wrote to the Turkish ambassador in London underlining the need to ensure court decisions reflect Turkey's obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights.

Ulster-Scots

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	When they propose to apply Part III of the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages in respect of Ulster-Scots.

Lord Rooker: The Ulster-Scots language currently enjoys Part II status under the charter. There is no specific timescale for the application of Part III status.

Ulster-Scots

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the Ulster-Scots language has the same status as the Irish language; and, if not, what they are doing to give it the same status.

Lord Rooker: Her Majesty's Government remain wholly committed to affording equal respect and recognition to the Irish and Ulster-Scots languages and cultures. The Ulster-Scots language currently has Part II status under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, while Irish has Part II and Part III status. Officials are working with representatives of the Ulster-Scots community to identify what steps might be involved in moving Ulster-Scots to Part III status. Any decision on whether to pursue that option will depend on the outcome of this work.

Universities

Lord Patten: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What are the implications for government policy towards universities of the projected drop in the number of 18 year-olds in the United Kingdom from 2010.

Lord Adonis: We expect demand for higher education to continue as attainment at age 19 rises and as universities increasingly engage with employers to offer degree-level training for adults already in the workforce. The Government are also committed to widening participation in higher education, so that more young people and adults from families and communities who have not, traditionally, undertaken higher education have the opportunity to do so and to enjoy the benefits that result. The Government want to see increases in the numbers of people with higher level skills because this is essential to economic competitiveness and supports social justice.

Universities

Lord Patten: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	For each of the years since 1997, how many students (a) were in full-time university education; and (b) dropped out from full-time university education, expressed both as totals and percentages of drop-outs.

Lord Adonis: The latest information on student numbers is given in the table.
	
		
			 UK domiciled full-time undergraduates. English Higher Education Institutions 
			 Academic year Numbers 
			 1996-97 716,640 
			 1997-98 727,080 
			 1998-99 736,200 
			 1999-2000 732,525 
			 2000-01 738,880 
			 2001-02 760,790 
			 2002-03 788,690 
			 2003-04 809,535 
			 2004-05 823,740 
			 Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). Numbers have been rounded to the nearest five. Numbers are based on a snapshot count of students as at 1 December in each year. 
		
	
	Since 1996-97, information on projected non-completion rates for higher education students has been published annually, initially by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and latterly by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), in Performance Indicators in Higher Education. The latest available figures giving overall non-completion rates for students starting full-time first degree courses in England are shown in the table. Figures published in 2005 by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) showed that in 2003 the UK had one of the lowest higher education non-completion rates among OECD countries.
	
		
			 UK domiciled full-time first degree students expected neither to obtain an award nor transfer. English higher education institutions 
			   Starters expected neither to obtain an award nor transfer: 
			 Students starting courses in: Number of starters Numbers Percentage 
			 1996-97 218,225 34,260 15.7 
			 1997-98 227,115 36,565 16.1 
			 1998-99 231,740 36,615 15.8 
			 1999-2000 230,930 36,720 15.9 
			 2000-01 233,170 34,975 15.0 
			 2001-02 242,515 33,465 13.8 
			 2002-03 254,535 35,380 13.9 
			 2003-04 258,530 37,230 14.4 
			 Source: Performance Indicators in Higher Education, published by HESA in July 2006. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest five.For 2003-04, the projected outcomes summarise the pattern of movements of students at institutions between 2003-04 and 2004-05 and give the outcomes that would have been expected from starters in 2003-04 if progression patterns were to remain unchanged over the next few years. The HESA data show the proportion of entrants who are projected to: obtain a qualification (either a first degree or another undergraduate award); transfer to another HEI; neither obtain a qualification nor transfer (i.e. fail to complete the course). Figures for 2004-05 will be published in July 2007.

Visas

Lord Dykes: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What representations they have made to the Government of the United States about extending to the European Union member states that joined in 2004 the early visa waiver system used for the original 15 members.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: The UK is not directly involved in matters of EU visa policy because of our policy of retaining national control over our borders and immigration. However, in our role as president of the EU (June-December 2005), the UK was involved in negotiations with the USA about extending the visa waiver programme to the 10 new member states that joined the EU in May 2004. We continue to support the principle of extending the visa waiver programme to all EU member states.

Waste Management

Baroness Byford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to Section 47 of the Waste Management (England and Wales) Regulations 2006 (S.I. 2006/937), whether the maximum volume of waste that can be spread per hectare during a 24 hour period is the same as the volume that can be spread over a period of one month.

Lord Rooker: Yes. We are considering whether to amend the general rules as part of the current review of exemptions for agricultural waste.

Waste Management

Baroness Byford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Why the Environment Agency is set to charge £3,500 per site for the implementation of the integrated pollution and prevention control regulations; and whether they have made an assessment of the charges per site in other European Union member states, in particular in Belgium where the charge is £250.

Lord Rooker: Since the implementation of the pollution prevention and control (PPC) regime in 2000, the Environment Agency has been charging for applications for permits and annually for compliance. The level of charges depends on the activities carried out at the installation. The charging scheme is subject to annual public consultation and ministerial approval.
	These charges are set according to the "polluter pays principle" whereby the agency is obliged to fully recover all its costs of regulation from those it regulates, without public subsidy.
	We have not carried out an assessment of the charges in other member states. Furthermore, direct comparisons across a wide range of sometimes complex installations in different member states can be very difficult.
	Nevertheless, we are aware that other EU member states have different mechanisms for recovering their costs, including through higher general taxation. It is for the individual member state to decide the most appropriate way of recovering these costs.

Waste Management

Lord Lewis of Newnham: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What action they are taking to combat the emission of dioxins and furans resulting from domestic combustion of waste products and bonfires; and
	What percentage of the United Kingdom's emissions of dioxins and furans is caused by (a) incinerators, and (b) domestic combustion of waste products and bonfires.

Lord Rooker: Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (referred to collectively as dioxins here) are a group of 210 closely related toxic chemicals that can be formed as by-products in some chemical processes and in various combustion processes.
	The most recent available data on the emissions of dioxins to air are from 2003 and are available from the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory funded by Defra (www.naei.org.uk). Estimated emissions of dioxins from municipal waste incineration made up less than 1 per cent of the UK's total emissions for that year, while residential combustion plants made up approximately 1.5 per cent. However, it should be noted that emission factors from open burning, bonfires and domestic combustion are known to be particularly uncertain.
	Measures that have already been taken to reduce dioxin emissions include controls on industrial processes such as incineration, on open agricultural burning and on emissions from vehicles. Such measures have led to substantial decreases in the levels of dioxins in the UK over the past 10 years.
	The UK is in the process of developing a UK dioxins action plan which will set out the current situation on dioxins and will identify priorities for future actions. The action plan will be based on the results of a public consultation carried out by Defra in 2002 on dioxins and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls in the UK environment (available on the Defra website at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/consult/dioxins/index.htm), and input from a dioxins strategy group which was established to inform its development.
	The dioxins action plan will form a substantial part of the UK's national implementation plan for the Stockholm convention on persistent organic pollutants. This is a global treaty which aims to protect human health and the environment from exposure to certain substances and includes dioxins. The Government intend to go to public consultation on the UK national implementation plan later this year.

Waterways Ireland

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Rooker on 12 July (WA 134), under what employment regulations the director of marketing and communications of Waterways Ireland was appointed; and whether those regulations would allow this appointment to be made on the basis of a promotion.

Lord Rooker: Following the establishment of Waterways Ireland, functions were transferred to it from existing statutory bodies in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. To facilitate the staffing of Waterways Ireland, enabling legislation in each jurisdiction provided for the designation and transfer of staff to the body.
	Following his designation from the former Department of Arts, Heritage Gaeltacht and the Islands, the director of marketing and communications was appointed by the chief executive of Waterways Ireland with effect from April 2002 under the relevant legislation. The appointment is dealt with at Appendix 1.4 of the joint statement on the investigation at Waterways Ireland issued by sponsor departments on 4 April 2005, which is available in the Library.

Wealth Distribution

Lord Whitty: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What proportion of national wealth was owned by each quintile of the population in each of the years 1976, 1996, 2006 or the latest year for which figures are available; and what they estimate the proportions will be at the end of the current comprehensive spending review.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: Estimates of quintile values for the period requested are not available. Published information on the wealth distribution between 1976 and 2003 can be found at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal_wealth/table13_5.pdf

Wealth Distribution

Lord Whitty: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What proportion of national income was received by each quintile of the population in each of the years 1976, 1996, 2006 or the latest year for which figures are available; and what they estimate the proportions will be at the end of the current comprehensive spending review.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from the Director of Macroeconomics and Labour Market, Colin Mowl, dated 14 September 2006.
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question asking what proportion of national income was received by each quintile of the population in each of the years 1976, 1996, 2006 or the latest year for which figures are available; and what they estimate the proportions will be at the end of the current comprehensive spending review. I am replying in her absence. (HL7342).
	National income commonly refers to income generated by the production of goods and services by the whole economy, only some of which is distributed to households. As such, it is not possible to allocate national income to household quintile groups. However, it is possible to do this for income received by households and estimates have been provided in the table below.
	These estimates are based on the ONS analyses The effects of taxes and benefits on household income. The latest analysis for 2004-05 was published on the National Statistics website on 12 May 2006 at http://www.statistics.gov.uk/taxesbenefits. The analysis is based on data from the Expenditure and Food Survey, which is a sample survey covering approximately 7,000 households in the UK.
	"Equivalised" household disposable income is adjusted to take into account the different size and composition of households. This equivalised income can then be used as a comparable measure of living standards for all households.
	The following table shows estimates of the percentage share of total equivalised disposable income received by each household quintile group. The latest available estimates are for the year 2004-05, and there are no projections beyond this. The earliest available estimates which are based on equivalised incomes are for the year 1977.
	
		
			 Percentage shares of equivalised disposable income by household quintile groups for 1977,1996-97 and 2004-05 
			 United Kingdom   Percentages 
			 
			 Quintile groups1 1977 1996-97 2004-05 
			 Bottom 10 8 8 
			 2nd 14 12 13 
			 3rd 18 16 17 
			 4th 23 23 22 
			 Top 36 42 41 
			 All households2 100 100 100 
			 1Ranked by equivalised disposable income. 2 Totals may not add to 100 due to rounding.Source: Office for National Statistics

Whaling

Lord Ashcroft: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What plans they have to respond to the pro-whaling majority at the recent International Whaling Commission meeting in St. Kitts.

Lord Rooker: We shall continue to encourage more conservation-minded countries to join the International Whaling Commission (IWC) as soon as possible, in order to reverse the pro-whaling majority in the commission.
	The United Kingdom raises the issue of whaling at every appropriate opportunity and our posts abroad will be lobbying the Governments of pro-whaling IWC members to seek support from their host countries for the UK's position on whaling. The prominent role we play within the IWC ensures no country can be in any doubt as to the importance we attach to whale conservation.

Whaling

Lord Ashcroft: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will encourage other European Union member states to join the International Whaling Commission and to support the moratorium on commercial whaling and other whale conservation policies.

Lord Rooker: My honourable friend the Minister for Local Environment, Marine and Animal Welfare (Ben Bradshaw), has recently written to the Environment Ministers of all European Union member states that are not currently members of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), and to all those seeking accession to the EU, to encourage support for the (IWC) moratorium on commercial whaling, and for the UK's policies on whaling.
	Defra officials also ensure that Foreign and Commonwealth Office posts in the relevant capitals are briefed and engage in discussion with their counterparts on whaling at every appropriate opportunity. This ensures that these countries are in no doubt of the importance that the UK places on whale conservation.

Whaling

Lord Ashcroft: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the United Kingdom delegation to the International Whaling Commission (IWC), or any of the scientists on that delegation, support proposals to deal with scientific whaling by having catch limits in line with the revised management procedure agreed by the IWC.

Lord Rooker: Neither the United Kingdom delegation to the International Whaling Commission (IWC) nor any scientist on that delegation would accept that the procedure cited by the noble Lord would adequately control lethal research whaling. Those Governments which currently authorise scientific whaling have so far refused to recognise that the right to undertake such whaling (as provided for in Article VIII of the IWC's parent treaty) should be restricted in any way by the introduction of the revised management scheme for the regulation of whaling. Lack of agreement on this front is one of the more significant obstacles to the progress of negotiations on the revised management scheme.

Whaling

Lord Ashcroft: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will provide financial support for the proposed International Whaling Commission scientific workshop in 2008 on the effects of climate change on whales.

Lord Rooker: The UK contributes to all such workshops through its annual subscription to the International Whaling Commission. At present, the Government do not plan to provide any further financial support to this particular workshop.

Works of Art

Lord Inglewood: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Where is the portrait of Jung Bahadur Rama that was formerly in the Secretary of State's room in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Lord Triesman: This portrait was returned to the British Library, and is in its possession.

World War I: Court-Martial

Lord Garden: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What proportion of soldiers sentenced for desertion by court-martial during the First World War were executed.

Lord Drayson: Approximately 7,000 servicemen were tried for desertion under the (British) Army Act 1881. We would need to examine the registers for courts martial to establish how many were sentenced and this could be done only at disproportionate effort. 266 were executed. It is not known how many soldiers were sentenced or executed for desertion under the Indian Army Act 1911.

World War I: Pardons

Lord Tebbit: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What were the names of those convicted of cowardice or other offences by court martial and executed during the First World War, whom they now propose should be pardoned, together with the offences with which each was charged and those of which each was found guilty.

Lord Drayson: I refer the noble Lord to the Written Ministerial Statement made today in another place by my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Defence (Mr Browne).

Young Offenders: Training

Lord Hylton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they have any plans to build secure places for training, with emphasis on construction skills, for younger offenders, who would otherwise receive prison sentences.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: Vocational training, including in some cases training in construction skills, is provided in custodial establishments for young people. The training can lead to formal qualifications. Other vocational courses include gas fitting, motor mechanics and information technology. Construction skills training is also provided, as part of an intensive supervision and surveillance programme, to some young offenders serving a community sentence who would otherwise be at risk of going into custody. Whether training is provided to a young person in custody depends on a number of factors, including length of sentence and willingness and ability to undertake the training. We have no current plans for new establishments devoted mainly to teaching construction skills. The Youth Justice Board is in discussion with the Department for Education and Skills about how vocational training for young offenders, both in and out of custody, can be further developed.

Zimbabwe

Lord Anderson of Swansea: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What is their response to the news that the President of Zimbabwe has appointed the former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa as his designated mediator.

Lord Triesman: We welcomed the UN Secretary-General's engagement on the Zimbabwe issue. He sought to help the Government of Zimbabwe in the reforms that the country desperately needs to arrest its deepening decline. However, President Mugabe blocked the initiative, and with it an opportunity to build bridges within Zimbabwe and with the international community. If Mr Mkapa can persuade President Mugabe to undertake the policy changes that Zimbabweans urgently need for a more stable and prosperous future, we will support his efforts in any way we can, as we would any international efforts aimed at achieving real progress in Zimbabwe.
	Zimbabwe is in a profound crisis. Inflation, even by official estimates, runs at over 1,000 per cent. The economy has shrunk by 40 per cent since 1999, exports by 50 per cent, and Zimbabwe now qualifies as a least developed country according to the UN's classification system. Formal unemployment has reached 80 per cent, and a quarter of the population is dependent on food aid, when once Zimbabwe was a major food exporter. An estimated 3,200 people die a week of AIDS-related causes. There are regular demonstrations in Harare and other cities, and daily infringements of the basic rights of Zimbabweans. Zimbabwe has been censured by the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, suspended from the councils of the Commonwealth and from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and subjected to critical scrutiny by UN envoys. I set out my concerns to the Zimbabwean ambassador when he called on me on July 24, and urged his Government to address these problems.
	It is clear that this is not, as the Government of Zimbabwe contend, a bilateral problem with the UK. It is, as the EU, US and many others in the international community have made clear, a problem between the Government of Zimbabwe and Zimbabwe's people, concerning governance. We support the specific policy recommendations made to Zimbabwe by the UN, IMF, World Bank, African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, and other international organisations. The UK only wishes to see a better future for Zimbabweans. It is for Zimbabweans to freely determine who should govern Zimbabwe—it is they who will then hold that Government to the governance standards that much of the rest of Africa is now working towards.
	The Government of Zimbabwe have also blamed their economic woes on economic sanctions imposed by the EU. However, the EU has no economic sanctions against Zimbabwe. It has an arms sales ban and a travel ban, as well as an assets-freeze on 126 members of the regime. These measures have had no impact on the Zimbabwean economy.
	The international community is not responsible for Zimbabwe's current problems: the wide-scale destruction of housing and livelihoods during Operation Murambatsvina; the abandonment of the rule of law so vital to maintain investor confidence; the destruction of Zimbabwe's agricultural productivity; the assault on the independent media; and the trampling of basic human rights. Above all, it is not the international community that has caused millions of Zimbabweans to vote with their feet by leaving their mother country; they have left because of their Government's policies.
	The problem of Zimbabwe is between its Government and its people. The solution is a Government working for, not against, the people, pursuing policies that realise Zimbabwe's enormous economic and human potential, and giving Zimbabweans the rights that much of the rest of the world insists on. If Zimbabwe pursues this path, the UK will be at the forefront of international efforts to support it, in addition to the significant humanitarian assistance that we are already providing Zimbabweans. It is in that way that Zimbabwe can build real bridges between our countries.